Teddy Lupin and the Hunter's Moon
by FernWithy
Summary: During Teddy's third year at Hogwarts, his father's archenemy escapes from Azkaban. This is an older story, just being posted to FFN for the first time. Some of it existed before the current family trees. Cover by Papillon82. Sequel to Teddy Lupin and the Forest Guard.
1. Thunder Moon

**Chapter 1:**

 **Thunder Moon**

For a hundred years or more, the Ministry had guarded Azkaban Island with fearsome dark creatures, depending on the North Sea as a secondary line of defense and the strong spells from above preventing a departure to the skies or any sort of Apparition. With the departure of the Dementors, they were forced back to dependence on the sea to keep the prisoners inside. Only Sirius Black had been mad enough to try to escape that way, at any rate.

Harry Potter, the head of the Auror Division, had argued strenuously for greater protection from the outside, pointing out that at least twice, there had been major, concerted efforts from the outside to "liberate" prisoners, but the Wizengamot had balked at the amount of treasure involved, after so much had been squandered during the war. They were already forced to pay human guards, they claimed, and without the Dementors keeping people's appetites low, more was being spent on food and other care. There were even regular visits from Healers. With all the extra gold they were spending to improve Azkaban already, lacing the sea with curses and protective hexes had seemed excessive. "After all," Tiberius Ogden said, "Lord Voldemort-thanks to you, Mr. Potter-is no longer a threat, nor is Bellatrix Lestrange. The Malfoys are repentant. The others are locked up... who's left to _want_ them released?"

Harry Potter had been overridden, and for nearly thirteen years, it seemed to have been a quite logical decision. No one had approached Azkaban. The prisoners had made no serious attempts to escape. Everything was under control. Voldemort's servants were prisoners of something even more fearsome than Azkaban-the past. They were no longer relevant. The new dangers lay elsewhere. Potter's occasional visits to the Wizengamot to urge greater investment in Azkaban were met with gentle chidings about trying to fill old Alastor Moody's shoes.

The guards, of course, kept an eye on the sea. They weren't to be completely ignorant. They searched for all magical disturbances.

Muggle boats occasionally passed, of course. The North Sea was cold and forbidding, but it was well-trafficked, and Azkaban was one of many islands. Such boats always found some pressing business in another direction if they came too close, though-Muggles couldn't see Azkaban, but they were caught in the various Distraction Spells that protected it-so the guards paid little heed to them. Muggles would have no reason to free Dark wizards.

It was quite possible, then, that someone saw the boat on the horizon, a little wooden fishing trawler, in bad shape and over-crewed for its size. Such boats passed regularly. There was nothing to mark where the enchantments began, so no one would have noticed it crossing slowly, drifting into the realm of the island, and certainly, by the time it sheltered in an unforgiving cleft in the rock, it had been long-forgotten by guards getting ready for a pleasant July evening at home, commiserating with the three unlucky souls who would be forced to spend the night here among the prisoners-particularly one of them, given that the moon would be full-slapping one another's shoulders. The tiny evening shift came on, grumbling about its very unpleasant upcoming duties. They drew straws-two would have to subdue and guard the problem prisoner. The other would make the regular rounds. The winner-and in this matter, she certainly felt like one-tucked her wand into its holster, and waved sarcastically to her unfortunate colleagues as she headed down to the main cell block. The woman in charge didn't respond; the young man didn't exactly wave, although his hand was raised. He had never liked her, and never would, rather like most of the people she'd met since leaving the safety of Slytherin House.

Millicent Bulstrode's career after Hogwarts hadn't really taken off.

She certainly wasn't the only member of her year in Slytherin to be saddled with a bad reputation, or even the only one to have worked in Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad. She wasn't even the worst-the most she'd ever done was get into a hair-pulling fight with the Granger girl second year. But the others seemed to have had quite a few more assets to cash in when it came time to join the adult world. Millicent didn't have Draco Malfoy's strange family connections to the new regime (no one had been more surprised than the Slytherins-including Draco-when Harry Potter had declared Narcissa Malfoy a hero of the Battle of Hogwarts), or Pansy Parkinson's perky prettiness, or Greg Goyle's family money. Daphne Greengrass had moved in with relatives in Barbados and made a comfortable life there, and Blaise Zabini had charmed Katie Bell into marrying him, and somehow or other integrated himself into life on the outer fringes of Dumbledore's Army.

But Millicent's family wasn't wealthy, she had done nothing in the battle, and she looked rather like the hag her great-grandfather was rumored to have married. (Great Grandmother Bulstrode had mysteriously disappeared, and the rumors were hotly denied, but Millicent owned a mirror, and occasionally used it, so she doubted the denials.) There were no political strings to pull, no husbands to charm, no waiting jobs. She'd worked in a few Knockturn Alley shops, taken a low-level Ministry post sending out owls, and finally, needing more gold than she was taking in if she meant to continue feeding her cats and paying rent on her flat, applied for the post as a guard at Azkaban. She hadn't held out much hope when Granger (now Weasley) interviewed her, but she'd got the job offer two weeks later. One thing about permanently retiring the Dementors-it had created jobs.

"Millicent! Millicent!"

Millicent turned to the small, unkempt woman in cell fourteen. "Yes, Professor Umbridge?"

Dolores Umbridge leaned forward conspiratorially. "I think Alecto is planning something nasty. I heard her talking about stealing her brother's food. Also..." Umbridge signaled for her to come closer, and whispered. "There are centaurs. They come at night. I'm sure Potter is sending them to torment me, and surely that's against the law. I'm sure _you_ aren't involved, of course, Millicent."

"Professor..."

"And the Mudbloods! I wish you'd move them out of my cell, they don't let me get any sleep at all, filthy things."

"I'll talk to my supervisor, Professor," Millicent said, looking into the empty cell.

"The babies are the worst," Umbridge went on. "They just cry and cry and cry..."

Millicent patted her hand and moved away, revolted. She didn't have much use for the Mudbloods herself and never had, but even they hadn't deserved what Umbridge had done. There had been an unproven rumor-as hotly denied, of course, as the Bulstrode hag rumor-about a Potion that St. Mungo's had been instructed to administer to any pregnant Mudblood that year. Millicent hadn't really believed it until she'd seen an article about how few babies had been born during the year Voldemort controlled the Ministry, and even then hadn't really internalized it until she heard Umbridge raving about crying babies who weren't there. Now, she believed. As she moved on down the corridor, Umbridge was already carrying on a lengthy justification of her crimes to a judge who wasn't there.

"Hey, where's _our_ feast?" Amycus Carrow growled. "Greyback got a right feast. Werewolves gettin' special rights, are they?"

"Greyback's less trouble to take care of tomorrow if we see to it that he's well fed before his transformation. You, on the other hand, are never any less trouble."

"And he up and gets a surface-side cell once a month! I reckon he done worse than Alecto and me put together."

Millicent sighed. It was bad enough that two guards on night duty had to be exclusively devoted to guarding Greyback during his transformation; she didn't need to take complaints about his "special" treatment. "He gets a surface cell once a month so he can see the moon, and before you start in on him having it all to himself, I could always offer to let you share it with him."

"Er... no thanks."

"Animal ought to be put down," Macnair grumbled from a few cells up. "I can do it for you, free of charge even. As a favor to the new Ministry. I hear they're not averse to killing a werewolf or two. Did one last month, if you believe the _Prophet._ "

"It sounds like a fine idea to me," Millicent said, "but I doubt they'll go along with-"

In the world above, something crashed. A high-pitched scream rose, and someone cut it off.

Alecto Carrow, at the far end of the corridor, let out a whoop of laughter. "Trouble in the guardhouse, trouble in the guardhouse!"

Millicent almost called out to her supervising officer, Leonora Graves, but something held her tongue. She drew her wand-carefully staying to the center of the corridor, where none of the Death Eaters could make a play for it-and hurried up toward the surface, toward the door where the dying sunlight played like phantom blood on the dark gray stones. Once she reached the stairs, she pressed herself against the wall, trying not to cast a shadow or make a sound. She mentally forgave Umbridge for trying her patience-had it not been for her time in the Inquisitorial Squad, she'd never have learned to move like this.

"Toss out the rubbish!" a woman yelled. "Toss it in the ocean!"

"I say we keep it handy," a man said. "Might get hungry later."

"Well, get it out of the way, anyhow," the woman said. "They don't give their guards much room up here."

Thundering footsteps came toward the stairwell, and a huge man, made into a black silhouette by the red sun, tossed a bundle toward the cells, and Millicent fought the hardest battle she could imagine to keep from screaming.

It was Leonora Graves. Her throat had been torn out, and as her body rolled unevenly down the stairs, she left a sticky trail of blood oozing out behind her.

"What about the other one?" another woman asked, and Millicent forced herself up another step, staying in the shadows.

"Need him to open up the door, don't we?" the first woman said.

Millicent came to the top, Disillusioned herself, and peeked around the door frame. The guards' office was crowded with two dozen strangers. They were all dressed in rags, disheveled and dirty. Many of them had filed their teeth to points. The crash she'd heard had been the fireplace caving in, blocking out their means of communication and transport. Millicent could see two charred and broken wands in the rubble-they must have burned them before they put out the fire.

Jack Sloper had been dragged to the center of the room, and-like the idiot Gryffindor he was-was still trying to fight. He kicked one of the men, who stomped down on his calf. Millicent heard the bone break, and Jack howled.

"Now," the woman who seemed to be in charge said, "you're going to open up Greyback's cage."

"No!"

"Oh, I think you will. We can make a right mess of you if you don't. Where's the key?"

Jack snorted. "It's magic, you idiot. And you burnt my wand."

"Oh, that's a shame," the woman said. "We'll have to tear the cage down. And we won't need you anymore."

Before Millicent could process what she was doing, let alone respond to it, something silver flashed, and Jack fell forward, blood staining the front of his robes. A huge man picked him up and took him to the door that led out onto the landing platform outside, and she saw the shoulders heave, then Jack was gone, into the depths of the North Sea.

Millicent froze. They were on a skeleton staff, because the night approach to Azkaban was quite impossible to make by sea, and the magical defenses from the air were unbreachable. She couldn't floo out, and she was the only one left, and she knew who they were now... oh, yes. No doubt about it.

After thirteen years, Greyback's pack had come for him.

"Come on!" the woman yelled. "I haven't been hiding on a boat for six hours just to watch you lot change before we do what we came to do!"

"Oh let up, Mina!" one of them said. "We're already on it!"

The pack had gathered around the cell built for Greyback's use. It was heavily reinforced on the inside-she helped with the spells that kept the powerful werewolf from breaking it down each month-but the outside was stone and mortar like anything else. As Millicent watched, they started battering it, prying at the mortar with anything they could find. On the inside, she could hear Greyback: "What's the matter with you, Jamieson? Can't you get anything right?"

Millicent shook her head sharply, trying to shock herself awake. How had things gone this wrong? She raised her wand, and whispered, " _Stupefy._ "

A man went down.

"Someone's here!" Mina shouted. "Invisible. Grab around! Not _you!_ " she added to the group around Greyback's cell. "We only got about ten minutes!"

" _Stupefy!_ " Millicent yelled. " _Stupefy! Stupefy!_ "

More fell, but the room was full, almost end to end, and grasping hands brushed her robes.

"Got 'im!" the man called Jamieson said.

Millicent pulled away, yanking herself back. She was at the edge of the stairs, and she felt herself teeter and turned frantically, grabbing the wall. Two nails tore, and her wand clattered out of her hand and down to the floor below. Out of nowhere, she thought of her cats, sitting at home, waiting to be fed. No one would think to check on them for days.

Grasping hands followed her. She ducked.

"He's gone down!" Jamieson called to Mina.

"Forget it, then. He's not going anywhere from there. Someone keep a guard on the stairs. The rest of you, to work!"

An old woman with a long knife gleefully took up a position at the top of the stairs, her arms spread across the door. Millicent moved backward slowly, taking the steps as silently as she'd come up. If she could just get to her wand-

There was another horrendous crash of stone on stone, then a broad, harsh laugh. "Come for me, did you?" Greyback said, in the high good humor that he adopted before the moon rose each month. "Took you long enough."

"Stanfield was alpha when you were gone. Didn't want to come collect you," Mina said. "But the Aurors killed him last month. Thought it was time to bring you back."

Millicent reached the bottom of the stairs. If she could get her wand, she could blast the one guard out of the way, make her way to whatever boat they'd come in, and sail away, leaving them stranded here. She'd go as far as it took to get past the Apparition barrier and then go straight to London, straight into Harry Potter's office, if that's what it took. She scooped it up and started to head back.

A great shadow fell across the door above.

Greyback.

He tipped his head to one side. "No time to get back tonight, but I reckon there's good pickings here. Those little bars won't hold out for long."

Millicent's hand froze.

The prisoners would be trapped in their cells. Even if a transformed werewolf broke the bars, the other werewolves would prevent any escape.

If she left now, blasted her way past the two at the door, she could escape.

But _they_ couldn't.

Granted, the world wouldn't miss Amycus Carrow much, but he was her responsibility.

She gritted her teeth, and started back down the cell block, casting the spells they used on Greyback's cell each month on the bars of Dolores Umbridge's cell. "Stay inside, Professor!" she hissed. "Whatever any of you see, don't stick your arms out!" She ran down, casting it on Amycus's cell, on Macnair's, on Alecto's, then turned down toward the lower level, where Rabastan Lestrange and his brother kept their vigil. Far above, she heard the first screams, the first howls. Powerful paws scrabbled down the stone steps, then there were yips and yaps of frustration as the werewolves tested the spells.

Millicent ran on. Yaxley, Rowle, a non-Death Eater called Simms who'd murdered his twin daughters trying to make a Potion to restore his wife. Poor Vincent Crabbe's father. Nott.

She turned and ran up a crooked staircase, coming up on the east wing of the main cell block. She Conjured bars across the passage to the minimum security wing, then reinforced them, then moved on to the other Death Eaters. Avery. Jugson.

The corridor doglegged, and she found herself face to face with a gray wolf, pointed ears and tufted tail catching the moonlight. It growled at her, right through the Disillusioning spell, but of course, the spell did nothing for her scent.

The wolf leapt.

Millicent ran blindly, neither knowing nor caring where she meant to go. A left, a right, a staircase-up or down, she wasn't sure-another left. Finally, she saw the light of the night sky. She ran past the empty cell that had once held an innocent man called Sirius Black. He had escaped from here, jumped to the ocean through a gap in the bars.

But as a dog, he'd been much smaller than Millicent Bulstrode.

She ran flat out into the bars, but no matter how she squirmed and turned, she couldn't force more than her arm outside. She looked up at the full moon.

Behind her, something howled.

She started to scream.


	2. Trollsbane Tarn

**Chapter 2:**

 **Trollsbane Tarn**

The silver light of the full July moon sat softly on the land, resting in cradles of curled leaves and draping like a satin blanket over fells and forests. It seeped between the trees, coating everything in something neither light nor shadow, and dappling the well-kept path beside the oak rail fence. The path was strewn with pine needles, and in the night, they seemed quiet. In the day, they moved constantly, forming arrows and signs to guide hikers as they made their way around the grounds, trying to find their way to their assigned camps.

At the moment, the needles swerved off in the direction the last group had gone, around a bend and up a hill. A blue and white sign showed a troll, pointing up the path with his club toward what he identified as "Trollsbane Tarn." In the distance, the soft moonlight became sound, the music of a quietly picked guitar, and of a boy's voice raised over the gentle crackling of a campfire.

The boy singing was sitting on a fallen log, his guitar resting lightly on his knee. Its strap, blue with bronze embroidery, said "Donzo." Sitting on the ground in front of him, her blue eyes wide and admiring, was a simply beautiful girl of eleven with blond hair that waved gently over her shoulders. Beyond her, four more boys and one more girl were gathered in a circle, listening to the guitar player, but engaged in their own business. Two of the boys were fifteen, one skinny and gawky, the other hefty and wearing wire-framed glasses. The girl was fourteen, with wild, curly red hair and a habit of reaching for glasses that were no longer there. She dressed in a bulky sweatshirt and loose-fitting boys' shorts, but wasn't able to hide the growing up she'd done over the past several months, much to her embarrassment. She studiously avoided looking at the blond girl under any circumstances. The other two boys were thirteen. One of these was small and dark, still looking like a child; the other had grown six inches, and his shoulders had begun to spread. He looked astoundingly like the large man behind him, who was speaking to a skinny fellow with a shock of sandy brown hair falling over his forehead. Between them, a small thirteen-year-old boy with long, straight blond hair looked eagerly back and forth, following their conversation-about the native birds here-with great interest.

Finally, at the far edge of the clearing, lying alone and looking up at the full moon, was Teddy Lupin, thin like his father, small and compact like his mother, with her nose and cheekbones (when he was resting) and his eyes and mouth. His hair was light brown, but he'd streaked it with the red and gold of his school House in back, and in front, he'd created a large swath of his favorite bluish green. As he watched the moon, he concentrated on these streaks, and they all turned gray, then pink, then white.

Teddy wasn't sad, or sulking, though Victoire had asked about the former and Ruthless had accused him of the latter. He'd just decided to make a point of enjoying a little bit of each full moon, to make up for the ones his father had missed due to his inconvenient transformations into a monster. He'd started this ritual last month, and rather liked it. It was a nice feeling to lie still and appreciate the sky. He felt like he ought to be thinking of Dad, but in fact, he wasn't thinking of much of anything, just feeling the feather touch of the breeze and listening to Donzo play.

Donzo McCormack was the eldest of Teddy's friends in his year-he would be fourteen in October-and his voice had started to change last winter. He'd briefly held out hope that he could quit his singing career on the rationale that he no longer had a good voice, but really, once it had stopped cracking, it had turned out to be better than it used to be, and Donzo, for all of his objections, didn't really seem to have any inclination to quit. Still, he was definitely happier here, singing on his own to his friends, than he had seemed in the rehearsals they'd all attended to provide moral support last week.

"Lupin!"

Teddy tipped his head back, and saw Ruthless Scrimgeour standing above him, chugging her hourly dose of Clear-Eye Concoction, her nose wrinkling between gulps. Her sweatshirt was loose enough to be bloused out, and from this angle, Teddy could see straight up to a bit of heavy white cloth that he thought might be her brassiere. He rolled over quickly and sat up straight, glad that it wasn't easy to see a blush in this light. "What?"

"We voted. You've done your pining, melodramatic orphan act for fifteen minutes. Time to get up." She held out her hand to help him (or, more likely, drag him) to his feet.

Teddy took it, then let go quickly, as his hands had started sweating. He got up and followed her over to the campfire. Maurice Burke, who still looked exactly as he had first year, barely even taller, winced at Teddy's hair. "D'you know it's bright pink?"

Teddy hadn't really kept track of where he'd stopped his hair cycling through its colors, and probably would have changed it to something else if Maurice hadn't looked so pained, but as it was, he left it, shrugging to indicate that he was exactly cool enough to keep it pink without worrying about the consequences. That all of them knew he'd never dare to do it outside their little circle mattered not a whit.

Donzo had finished his song-a new one he was going to record next month, and was now just fiddling with chords. Victoire Weasley was still watching him with rapt attention. Teddy didn't think her parents would like that very well, so he tapped her shoulder and pulled her over to the main group, where Frankie Apcarne was trying to explain a new concept he'd heard of in the role playing game they'd all played avidly all summer.

"It's like the dice game, except that you're actually moving about," he said. "And you got a costume, and when there's a fight, you fight it."

"In other words," Corky Atkinson said, "it's playing cops and robbers. Running around and saying, 'Bang, bang' when we're supposed to shoot someone."

"No-Weasleys' is putting out little mocks." Frankie reached into his bag and pulled out a catalog from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. He opened it to show them George Weasley's new line of Muggles and Minions accessories, and showed them little wooden guns that Teddy knew made a kind of beeping sound and made a little purple spot on the intended target. Everyone on the page was dressed up in costumes. Teddy rather fancied the idea of dressing up like a space man and pretending to shoot lasers-he'd helped George come up with this, and little James Potter was fully engaged in the idea and had been shooting up his house for a week-but as no one else was admitting to such a thing, he thought it might be the better part of valor not to mention it. Frankie sighed and put it away. "I guess I'll be too busy with O.W.L.s this year anyway. Tinny said she wanted to do it, though."

"Too bad she didn't come to say so," Ruthless grumbled. Bernice Fletcher and Tinny Gudgeon had both been otherwise occupied this week-Bernice working in her cousin's shop; Tinny traveling to Germany with her parents-and Ruthless's family hadn't been keen on her camping alone with a pack of boys. To get them to let her come along, she'd goaded Victoire into asking to come along-calling her "Miss Fancy-Knickers" when they'd both been at Teddy's for a game and generally implying that she couldn't handle the outdoors-so that she wouldn't be the only girl around, but Teddy didn't think she was especially glad of it. Victoire was not only capable of life outdoors, she actually was better at it than Ruthless was, and had set herself up to make friends with Ruthless... which, unfortunately, wasn't Victoire's strong suit. She'd apparently decided that the best way to make friends was to tell Ruthless how she ought to handle her unmanageable hair, to repack Ruthless's bags more efficiently, and to set up a complicated system of splitting the tasks in caring for their tent. Ruthless, whose idea of advanced hair care was a rubber band that made it puff out like a curly red puffskein sitting on the back of her neck, was not appreciative. By the second day of their week long camping trip, the girls were in a state of open warfare, much to everyone else's entertainment, except the two chaperons-Frankie's dad, Daffy, and Corky's dad, a huge, broad-faced Canadian called Hutch.

Hutch noticed Victoire grinning over her shoulder before anyone else did, and was up and across to the gathered knot of the Forest Guard _almost_ in time to stop Ruthless from sitting down.

 _Almost._

Teddy saw the flash of purple on the ground just a second too late to prevent Ruthless from sitting down on it. As soon as she dropped down, there was a loud sound of squeaking animals. She jumped up, screaming in revulsion, then saw the piece of purple plastic that had scurried over while she wasn't looking-Teddy guessed it had been sent as soon as she'd grumbled about Tinny. It split into several pieces, all of them nudging affectionately at Ruthless's ankles.

Donzo laughed.

Ruthless picked up one of the pieces (each was labeled "Weasleys' Wailing Wombats") and threw it at him.

He caught it easily.

"Enough!" Hutch Atkinson said, standing up. He waved his wand, and the pieces of the Wailing Wombat flew over to him. He looked at them and rolled his eyes. "I don't know about your uncle's shop, Victoire."

"I think we should make a rule about Victoire using Weasley products," Frankie's friend, Zach Templeton, said. "The rest of us have to pay for them."

"So do I!" Victoire protested, though Teddy knew perfectly well that she'd been given a huge trunk full of pranks for Hogwarts on her eleventh birthday, and she'd only used four of them on Ruthless so far.

"How 'bout we quit the pranks?" Hutch said. "Come on. We've got a campfire. There's a scary story contest in the lodge tomorrow night. Who wants to try one out on us to get some practice?"

"Teddy should," Frankie said. Maurice and Corky seconded this enthusiastically.

"Oh!" Victoire said, "Tell that one you made up for Artie, about the real girl who was trapped in the portrait!"

"No, the sunlight vampire one," Corky said. "That one's cool."

While they argued about which story they wanted to hear, Hutch and Daffy broke out the marshmallows. As they skewered them for toasting, Teddy made up a Muggles-and-Minions sort of story about a mad killer on the loose, who especially went after wizarding children on camping trips. They all listened with great attention-even Daffy and Hutch-as they toasted and ate a bag full of marshmallows. Teddy made a band of campers who were fighting, and they were down to the last one.

"And the last thing she ever heard," he said ominously as he drew it to a close, "was the sound of someone pulling out the pegs on her tent!"

They all apparently found it satisfactory-years of doing this with James had left Teddy reasonably good at it-and duly urged him to go to the lodge tomorrow to compete with other campers. He said he'd think about it.

"I think we should sing," Daffy suggested. "Donzo, would you mind playing?"

Donzo got his guitar eagerly. "Oh, I learned a Muggle song that has Canada in it," he said. "Someplace called 'Jasper.' Is that near you?"

"Jasper..." Corky said. "Yeah, right next door. It's not much further from us than Mexico City, is it, Dad?"

Hutch swatted the back of Corky's head fondly, and Teddy was struck by how much they looked alike. When Corky grew up, he would look like Hutch's twin. "Don't be rude," he said. "I think I know the song Donzo means. It's a good one, if he wants to give it to us."

Donzo smiled and started playing another folksy sort of guitar song, this one about a couple of men wandering around in Jasper, Alberta. Once it was done, they went through his growing collection of Muggles and Minions songs, including the Ballad of Wings, which he'd written for Teddy's character, and The Tube Crawl Tarantella, which had a dance that went along with it. By the time he'd finished the show, even the girls were laughing.

It was late by the time they slipped off to the tents, and Teddy was looking forward to crawling into his puffy sleeping bag between Frankie and the kitchen table, but he waited until everyone else had gone in and he had a moment alone. He looked up at the moon and smiled. "'Night, Moony," he said.

There was no mystical answer. After a moment, Teddy ducked into the tent, waited behind Maurice for a long time to use the toilet, then slid into his sleeping bag and was asleep before he even got comfortable.

He dreamed of blood on the moon.

He was standing in the center of the campground, alone. The tents were there, but he knew they were empty without needing to check. The moon was round and red. A hawk flew across it.

"Dad?" he called, but didn't really hold out any hope. Sometimes he could find his father in his dreams-or at least an image he thought of as his father-but tonight, of course he couldn't come, not under the full moon. It occurred to him that Mum might come, as she'd have certainly stayed with him when Dad couldn't, but she didn't.

The wind tugged at his jacket, and suddenly, he was lifted into the air, soaring high above the fells, looking down at the forest and its nestled lakes. The air was cold, and now he was above the sea, suspended on nothing. He could hear wolves howling, and someone screaming. He passed a cloud, which was a wolf, and it turned to look at him impassively. Below him, the waves were crashing against the sheer cliffs of an island.

A werewolf sat in a high place, watching the skies eagerly. It spotted Teddy and leapt, and then Teddy was falling, toward the water, toward the wolf. He was aware of the hawk again, swooping down from the sky, but it wouldn't reach him in time, it wouldn't-

He awoke with a gasp, his heart pounding. He knocked the leg of the kitchen table in the tent, and a pillow flew at him from the sofa.

"G'slee Teh..." Corky muttered, then turned over and went back to sleep himself.

Shivering, Teddy sat up in his sleeping bag for a long time, not wanting to go back to sleep. It seemed strange to him now, though he'd never thought of it before, that he'd never dreamed of werewolves before. The hawk, he knew-his father had left him a wedding ring charmed with his own memories, and one of his best ones had been of a hawk his mother had let him fly. The hawk had been a frequent visitor in Teddy's dreams. But the werewolf hadn't. Had it been Dad? Had he been taken to the one he'd called for after all? He couldn't imagine who else it could have been-he'd met other werewolves, but none of them were really part of his life-but it hadn't felt like Dad. Not even a little bit.

After a long time, he lay back down and drifted into a thin sleep. He woke up to the sound of the others jumping around the tent, getting things together for breakfast. Frankie pulled his pillow out from under his head and said, "Time to get up, Lupin."

"'m up," Teddy said. He was disoriented. He'd gone to sleep with his head and feet reversed from where they had been.

Frankie crouched down. "Corky said you had a bad dream or something. I told them to let you sleep a bit if you were up in the night."

"Thanks." Teddy blinked, trying to remember his dream. There were snatches of it in his head, but it didn't come together. "Is it breakfast?"

"Dad's got the fire going," Frankie said. "Maurice and Donzo and the girls are trying to catch fish."

"Oh," Teddy said. "Right. I'll just"-he yawned-"get dressed and..."

"Up," Frankie said, pulling him up before he realized he'd been about to lie down again.

Teddy let himself be dragged to his feet and shuffled to the toilet, the balls of his feet sore from yesterday's hiking. There was running hot and cold water, but he stuck to cold, splashing it on his face and under his arms to wake himself up. By the time he was washed and dressed, Maurice and Donzo had come back with a fish apiece, and Ruthless and Victoire were sitting in disgrace, as they'd managed to splash into the tarn competing for a good spot and scare away the fish Hutch was trying to Summon.

"At least that's Dad's excuse _this_ time," Corky said, rolling his eyes. "Last time I went fishing with him, he blamed merpeople for over-hunting. When I was four, he tried to tell me that all the fish that belonged in Lake Ontario got sucked down the Niagara whirlpool."

Teddy smiled. "Uncle Harry once told me that they'd moved a pool in the Forest of Dean, at least until we found it right where he left it."

The lack of fish didn't cause too much hardship with breakfast, as Daffy had brought along quite enough food for a month. The tents both had kitchens with stoves, but no one had suggested that food ought to be cooked in them. Instead, each of them took a mess kit with a long handle, fried bacon, then scrambled eggs in the grease. Teddy thought this a fine manner of eating.

When they'd finished, they argued about whether to go swimming or to hike up the mountain trail (Teddy was perfectly happy with either, so didn't participate), and Frankie resolved it by bringing out the dice. Ruthless, who favored hiking, rolled horrendously, and Roger Young crowed at the top of his voice as he ran to get his swim trunks. Victoire and Ruthless disappeared into their tent, Victoire emerging a few minutes later in a shiny one-piece sort of thing, with a towel wrapped around her. Ruthless poked her head out, then went back inside and came out in a huge T-shirt and pair of cut-off blue jeans.

They tromped down to the tarn together. It was a shallow gouge in the land, left by a glacier, surrounded by hills and ringed by rocks. "It's cold," Victoire warned, then jumped off the pier. She came up bouncing and shivering, and a moment later, everyone else, including Ruthless, was in, splashing and calling each other names. Frankie and Zach talked about playing some game in which the girls were meant to sit on their shoulders and try to knock one another off, but after some consideration, it was decided that, in the case of Victoire and Ruthless, it would be best not to give them a pretense to try to drown one another.

Late morning came in with hot, heavy sun, and Teddy pulled himself up onto the pier not long before noon. The sun baked into him, evaporating the cold water, and he closed his eyes until a shocking rain fell on him. He half sat up, opening his eyes to find Victoire climbing up beside him. "Sorry," she said, wincing. "Didn't mean to drip on you."

"All right," Teddy said irritably.

She sat down, dangling her feet toward the water while she toweled her hair. "This is such fun. I'm so glad Mum and Dad let me come. Do you suppose they'll be my friends at Hogwarts? Or will they not want to be around a first year anymore? Do you think Ruth really hates me, or is she just faking? Can I ever use the..." She opened her hands like a book to indicate the Marauder's Map, which Uncle Harry had given to Teddy his first year, and which Victoire knew about because Teddy had needed help deciphering some French spells that Sirius had left on a document they called the Keys to the Castle. She, Frankie, and Ruthless-who'd found out about it when she'd caught Teddy sneaking out last year-were the only other people at Hogwarts who knew Teddy had it.

"I'll show you how to use it," he whispered. "And they'll be your friends if you want them to be. Frankie was my friend when I was a first year."

This seemed to satisfy Victoire, though Teddy supposed she'd figure out before the end of the Sorting Feast that hanging about with the Forest Guard wasn't going to improve her social standing very much. Aside from Donzo (who had a lot of fans he generally tried to escape), Corky (who was always around but had somehow not been perceived as being one of the _weird_ boys), and Teddy himself (who got along reasonably well with everyone), being in the group was the kiss of death. Even Ruthless, who'd made Beater on the Quidditch team last year and single-handedly saved the Cup for Gryffindor, was thought of as a freak, although that might have had something to do with her penchant for solving arguments with her fists.

"I can't wait to go get my wand," she said. "Mum's taking me right after we get back. I wonder what it will be."

Teddy let her go on in this vein, though he'd heard it before. She'd been going on about getting her wand soon since her birthday in May. He'd had occasion to wonder about wand matching himself, not just because of his own troubles, but because he'd given some of his hair to Berit Ollivander to use as a core. She'd sent it all back with rather large apologies, saying that it could end up dangerous for him to have someone else matched with a wand containing bits of himself, if that person turned out to be less than honorable. Granny had been quite angry when she found out what he'd done.

He let her voice drift over him, enjoying the weight of the sunlight and the feel of the breeze. He had no warning at all when a great rush of water doused him head to foot and Ruthless began to laugh.

Victoire was on her feet in a second, Teddy a moment behind her, and they jumped back into the tarn. Ruthless had temporarily teamed up with Roger, and the four of them all sent great sheets of water at each other, slapping the surface to get maximum waves. Ruthless's tee shirt did nothing to help her hide her shape-now that it was wet, it was as clingy as a bathing suit-but she seemed to have forgotten about it entirely. Soon, the others joined in, and the little area of the tarn close to the pier was heaving like it was the middle of a monsoon. Frankie used his size to generate huge waves by jumping in; Maurice took to spitting great fountains of water at everyone.

Teddy ducked under to avoid one of these missiles from Maurice, and the motion of the water carried him toward the shore. Laughing as he came up, he stumbled backward toward the grassy slope and tripped over a rock, falling onto his face just as a loud crack broke the afternoon. A glossy black shoe appeared in front of his nose. He looked up and saw neat black trousers poking out from under a scarlet robe. The robe had the insignia of the Ministry for Magic. At the top, sunlight glinted on glasses and caught in a mess of black hair.

Uncle Harry reached down to help him up. He was pale and looked like he hadn't slept. "Hello, Teddy," he said, and his thin smile disappeared. "Something's happened. You need to know about it."

Teddy got to his feet slowly, feeling disoriented.

"Harry!" Daffy Apcarne said, running up from the tarn. "Is there something wrong? What's happened?"

Hutch came up beside him, with that odd look of recognition without acknowledgment that most polite people seemed to have the first time they met Uncle Harry. "Mr. Potter, Hutch Atkinson. Did something happen?"

Uncle Harry nodded. "Teddy and Victoire need to come home, and the Ministry is closing outdoor areas for a little while. There's a... security problem. A breakout at Azkaban."

Daffy went completely white. "A breakout? Who? The Carrows? Bloody Umbridge?"

"Are we talking about _Death Eaters_?" Hutch asked. He grabbed Corky, who had wandered over, and held him by the upper arm. Teddy had visions of him trying Transatlantic Side-Along Apparition on the spot.

"Fenrir Greyback," Uncle Harry said. "They pulled Greyback out last night. We lost two guards, and a third one was turned."

"Turned?" Teddy repeated.

"Greyback's a werewolf."

Daffy turned back toward the tarn, where everyone else had noticed Uncle Harry. They were picking up towels and drying off. Daffy waved his wand, and Teddy felt a Quick-Dry spell pass around the clearing. "We're going," he said. "Now."

"I thought the campground was charmed _against_ werewolves," Hutch said. "Before we came during the full moon-after last month's attack-we checked, and..."

"It's protected from transformed werewolves, but it was decided that it wouldn't be fair to block untransformed ones. The one who escaped... it doesn't matter that he's a werewolf. And today, he's no more blocked than you are."

Daffy nodded. "We'll pack up."

"Ron's already taking the liberty," Uncle Harry said. "If anyone's things are in the wrong bag, they can trade back at Hogwarts."

"Is Hogwarts going to be safe?" Hutch asked.

Uncle Harry thought about it carefully. "It's not impregnable, but it's the easiest place in the country to secure. High walls, centuries of collected magic, and quite a lot of very powerful witches and wizards in full time residence there. I trust it." He glanced at Corky, who'd started squirming at the phrase "in the country." "I trust it for Teddy, and I don't take chances there. And, at any rate, I hope that this entire situation will be over before the first of September." He put his hand on Teddy's shoulder. "We need to leave now, though."

The group followed him back to the campsite, where Ron had collapsed the tents. Ron waved to all of them, but he looked very tired, and more than a little bit grumpy. Their bags were packed and lined up, and the fire pit had been buried. Donzo's guitar case leaned forlornly against the fallen log.

Teddy put on his backpack and picked up his book bag, then hurried up to walk with Uncle Harry, who was leading the way out. He wasn't sure why Uncle Harry looked quite so awful-there wouldn't be a full moon for another month-but he guessed there were reasons. "Did you sleep?" he asked.

Uncle Harry nodded, not stopping. "They called at dawn. The morning shift came in and found out what happened. We were hoping we'd catch them before they landed a boat anywhere. Ron and I have been flying over the sea for three hours. There's no sign of it."

"A boat!"

"Yes. A Muggle boat. It's the only way they could have done it. We found a cove. They must have waited for the evening shift to come on and then climbed the cliff." He seemed distracted, more thinking aloud than answering Teddy's questions. " _Perimeter_ spells. Simple perimeter spells, on objects, not just Distraction Charms, they weren't Muggles, they were just using a Muggle boat..." He stopped, then turned to Teddy, blinking. "Sorry. I'm going to take care of this, Teddy."

"Why did you just come for Victoire and me, if everyone has to go home?"

"I'll tell you when we're inside," he said. "There's a lot you have to hear. A lot I was hoping could wait a bit longer."

"Why now?"

He sighed and started moving again. "Last month, there was a werewolf attack. We haven't seen them since before the end of the war, and we thought it was isolated, just a werewolf who transformed before he had a chance to lock himself away. We didn't intend to kill him, but there was no choice. He transformed back. He was known to be in Greyback's pack... a group of werewolves he kept around him. But we still didn't think of it. We hadn't seen the others. But they must have decided that if we were killing werewolves, it was time to get Greyback out of Azkaban."

"So they were just trying to help him. Just like a family."

"Greyback bit your father," Uncle Harry said. "He did it deliberately, and then tried to kidnap him into the pack. Don't imagine that this is a friendly little gathering. Greyback was in Azkaban for a reason."

Teddy followed him, not asking any more questions.

They reached the main lodge, where the fire was burning brightly. Another group of campers was arguing with the caretaker, demanding their money back for the rest of the week. Uncle Harry handed over fifteen galleons without comment, then Summoned a pot of Floo powder and gave it to the group leader.

While they were Flooing away, Ron gathered Teddy's group together. "Does everyone have a parent at home?"

"I'm old enough to stay alone," Zach said.

"Is that a no?"

"My parents are both working."

"Then you're going home with Frankie," Ron told him. "Daffy, will you get in touch with his parents?"

Daffy nodded. "I'll make sure all of them get home all right. Don't worry."

"Make sure they're with someone with a wand before you let them go."

"I'll take half of them," Hutch said.

"Thank you," Uncle Harry told him.

Corky, Donzo, and Maurice stayed with Hutch, and he sent them through the Floo to Diagon Alley before disappearing himself. Frankie, Zach, and Roger went to Daffy.

"Ruth!" Daffy called. "Over here."

Ruthless had sidled over to Victoire, who was waiting beside Ron. "I want to know what's going on," she said.

"You can check the _Prophet_ tomorrow," Daffy told her. "Right now, we're Flooing to my house, and I'll get you to your dad right after."

Teddy watched his friends disappear, one by one, into the fire. Ruthless was the last. She glared at Ron and Uncle Harry, then threw her Floo powder with much more force than necessary as she yelled out, "Badger Hill!" The flames went green and leapt alarmingly, then she was gone. Daffy followed her, leaving only Teddy and Victoire with the two Aurors. Victoire seemed dazed by the sudden change in her fortunes. She looked at Teddy, wide-eyed, and said, "What's happening?"

Teddy shrugged and shook his head. "I guess we find out at home. I'm not sure _whose._ "

"We're not going home just yet," Uncle Harry said. "Ron, you take Victoire. I'll take Teddy."

Ron took Victoire, putting his arm around her waist from behind, then waved his wand. Victoire moved her arm, and Ron's moved with her. "I security-bound you," he said. "Relax." He tucked his wand into his pocket, then took a handful of powder. "Auror Department!" he called. The flames went scarlet-a secure Floo. He stepped in, and he and Victoire were gone.

Uncle Harry smiled wearily. "I don't think I've had to bind you to Floo since you were four, but you won't get in if I don't."

Teddy nodded.

Uncle Harry put his arms around him, then there was the sharp, pins-and-needles tingling of the Binding Spell. Teddy felt as if he'd been sewn to his godfather. Uncle Harry threw in the powder, then the world was spinning through flames. Teddy could see flashes of life behind other grates, worlds he'd never been in, and he could feel the shadowy power of being in the In Between. He'd always wondered what it would be like if he could just stop out here and see everything at once.

Then they were falling out of another fireplace-Teddy found himself caught in his grandmother's frantic embrace-in an office Teddy had never been in, because he hadn't visited Uncle Harry at work since he'd got promoted to head the department. Still, he'd have recognized it right off, as the walls were covered with pictures of Aunt Ginny and the children, and of Teddy himself, as well as several examples of James's exuberant but less than expert artwork.

And of course, if that hadn't been enough, the people crowded into the small room would have settled it-Hermione was there, looking grim, and so were Victoire's parents and sisters (and her sole brother Artie). Professor Longbottom was leaning on the door, alongside a woman so badly scarred that she made Victoire's father, Bill, look like he had a moderate case of spots. Her name, Teddy knew, was Vivian Waters, and she was a werewolf. The group was rounded out by Minerva McGonagall, a retired Hogwarts teacher, and a young man in a priest's robes who looked vaguely familiar to Teddy. He seemed to have been talking to Vivian.

"Is there news?" Uncle Harry asked.

"They found the boat," Hermione said. "Empty. It was docked at the mainland. We tracked them to a cottage. The family... is at St. Mungo's. They used the Floo. No one heard where they went, and we didn't have a trace on it."

Uncle Harry nodded and sat down behind his desk. He didn't look like he'd really expected anything else. "In that case," he said, "it's time to talk about Greyback."


	3. The Prisoner

**Chapter 3:**

 **The Prisoner**

Granny finally let Teddy go enough for both of them to sit down on a bench she Conjured. Teddy could see that Bill and Fleur's girls all looked confused, except for Muriel, who, like Artie, just seemed mildly interested.

"Before we start," the priest asked, "I'd like to know about Millicent Bulstrode. Has she stabilized from the attack?"

Granny nodded. "Yes, Father Alderman. You may see her tomorrow to start counseling. She needs rest today. It was a vicious attack even by Greyback's standards."

"Her face?" Bill asked, and Teddy realized that he'd taken Bill's scars for granted all of his life - he'd once asked about them, but had forgotten after being told that he'd learn when he was older.

"Of course," Granny said. "The pack also mangled one of her arms, and she'll need a prosthetic leg. We had to take it from the knee down."

Victoire looked at her father, alarmed. "It was a werewolf who did that to you? That's what you didn't want to tell me?"

Bill held up his hand. "I was planning to tell each of you when you were eleven. I thought that was old enough. I'd have told you before you left for school. But now you all need to know."

"How come you don't turn into a wolf?" Marie asked, her confusion now turning to curiosity.

"He wasn't transformed when he bit me," Bill said. "And that's why I want you all to listen, even though it's frightening. I'd rather you be sufficiently frightened now than surprised later." He looked at Hermione. "Go on."

Hermione waved her wand and a thick file appeared. From it, she pulled out a photograph of a man with sharpened teeth and a tangled mess of filthy gray hair. He leered out at them. She held it deliberately in front of Teddy. "I want you to memorize this face," she said. "If you see it, run. Of everything we'll say here today, that's the most important part."

Teddy took the picture and practiced it, sharpening his teeth as he'd once done to frighten the rather horrible Honoria Higgs, forcing his hair out -

"Teddy, don't!" Victoire gasped.

He looked up. "I'm just learning the face."

"Learn it however you need to," Hermione said. "But don't just show up with it, because we're all cursing on sight." She sighed. "Bill, we're going to talk about things that I'm not sure the smaller children are ready for. Anthony Goldstein is doing desk work outside. I could ask him to watch Artie and Muriel. You and Fleur can find words for it for them later."

Bill considered this, then nodded. Hermione took his two youngest children to the door and beckoned the Auror called Goldstein. He took the children, and Teddy heard him offer to let them play with any number of funny little gadgets before the door shut again. Hermione leaned against it, then took up the folder again. "I've put together what we have, but I think it would make more sense if... if the people to whom I've spoken would tell everyone else what they remember. Some of us here don't know all that much about Greyback. Nearly everyone else has a little piece to add. Professor?" She looked to McGonagall.

McGonagall nodded. "Fenrir Greyback was a third year student when I began to teach Transfiguration. It was before he was bitten, of course. He was sullen and not particularly talented, magically speaking, but he caused no trouble in my class. We learned almost immediately that year that he had a cruel streak - he'd enjoyed learning about Dark Creatures in Defense Against the Dark Arts and been anxious to take Care of Magical Creatures from Professor Kettleburn, but Hagrid caught him burning bowtruckles to amuse himself. He was kicked out of that class in October. We kept an eye on him around animals. We thought he'd got it out of his system, as winter set in, and he didn't do anything else. But one day in February, after my first year Gryffindors were in, a little girl called Twyla Dorne came to me and said that Fenrir had cornered her in the Gryffindor common room. She said she thought he'd pulled his wand on her. He tried to bite her. I thought at first that she meant to say he tried to kiss her - which would hardly have been more appropriate, but would at least be comprehensible - but she lowered the cowl of her robe and showed me the bruise marks from his teeth."

"You expelled him?" Granny asked.

"No." McGonagall took off her glasses and cleaned them. Her face looked so naked that Teddy actually looked away, like he'd seen something he oughtn't have. She put them back on. "Dumbledore and I spoke to his mother. Astrid Greyback - she was a Squib, and she always maintained that her lover, Fenrir's father, had been taken by werewolves. She never named him. We strongly suspected it wasn't the truth, though she'd convinced herself by then that it was. I suppose it doesn't matter. It matters that Fenrir believed it wholeheartedly. The attack on the Dorne girl was at the full moon, though we didn't recognize the significance at the time. At any rate, we decided to give him another chance. He used it, the next month, to attack a first year boy coming out of the bath. Oliver Wood's father, actually - Roland Wood. He actually had managed to break Roland's skin, but Roland was still wet and slithered away. He got his wand and managed to Petrify him. He got dressed, then came to me. That was when we expelled Greyback. There were no authorities to notify about a violent schoolboy. He went back to his mother. Some time after that, he was bitten."

"Which he did on purpose," Vivian muttered.

Father Alderman, who'd been listening impassively, stepped forward. "It was three years later," he said. "When he was sixteen. Greyback boasted about it to us. In the pack." He looked cautiously around, then swallowed hard. "He said that he'd met a werewolf. He called her 'a silly little twist.' He didn't mention her name, though my Mum thinks it was a Muggle-born witch named Etta Huff, who disappeared around the right time. He said she didn't appreciate what she'd been given. He found her drunk between moons and took her home, and locked her in a cage. At the full moon, he put his arm in to take the bite. Not far enough for real damage, just enough to take the curse. The next morning, he - " He stopped talking entirely, looked at the littler girls, then looked at the floor. "He killed her."

Vivian nodded. "Right. He started collecting women right after. Old Mag said he was only eighteen when she joined him. She was a spot older. She hadn't found any work, because... well, you know. Werewolf laws. She'd found her own ways of getting gold. Greyback brought her in. Taught her to hunt and steal. He'd done that for all of them. All of them were equal then - just Greyback, and then everyone else. He started making up the alpha bit later on when some idiot told him about wolves. He'd forgotten how to read by then. I don't think he remembered until Lupin taught him again."

"What?" Teddy asked, his mouth dropping open.

Father Alderman smiled. "That's an entirely different part of the story. They made an agreement. Greyback taught your father to keep himself alive, and your father taught him to read. He taught all of us, actually. But that was years after all of this. I'm really not sure how Lupin ended up bitten, let alone how he got away. I read the report in Mum's file from the Werewolf Capture Unit, but I don't think they had all the details."

"They didn't," McGonagall said. "At some point over the next ten years, Lord Voldemort happened across Greyback. They shared a dislike of the Ministry, and Greyback certainly had no love for Muggle-borns. I don't imagine Greyback took quickly to having someone else in charge of him, but he adapted to the ideology quickly enough. One day in Diagon Alley, he saw a young Muggle-born woman and her son, meeting the boy's father - the Lupins. He made a rude comment about Muggle-borns polluting a wizarding line. John Lupin lashed out at him for the insult, returning... quite in kind. He had no idea to whom he was speaking. The next full moon, Greyback came for Remus. He was six. According to Julia - Dumbledore spoke to her at length before Remus started school, and Dumbledore passed most of it to me - Remus fought hard. He broke his ankle trying to hold on to a tree. That slowed him enough for John and Julia to catch up. Something had distracted Greyback by then. They set up fire spells to block Greyback, and they grabbed Remus back and got him to St. Mungo's."

"Greyback never forgave that," Vivian said. "He believed that wolves he had made belonged to him. Which was why it was easy for Remus to come to the pack when he needed to get information - Greyback thought it only natural that finally, he'd come back." She looked at Teddy, her magical eye rolling in its socket. "It's important that you understand this, Teddy, as little as you might want to hear it: Greyback believes your father was one of his. A traitor, of course, but _his_."

"And so are we," Father Alderman added. "Which is something else you need to keep in mind. Your parents helped take us away from Greyback - Vivian, me, ten others. They took what was his. I have no doubt that - if he knows you exist - he will attempt to take what was theirs."

Teddy thought he should feel something - anger, fear, hate, _anything_ \- but he didn't. He just felt strangely cold, like an invisible ghost had chosen to sit in his exact spot here in Uncle Harry's office, settling over him like a chilly second skin. Somewhere in the room, a clock was ticking very loudly, but he heard everything else from a distance, like he was listening underwater. Somewhere above the surface, Granny had taken his hand. He let the talk go on around him, though he was very aware of Uncle Harry's wary eye.

"When we got the children away," Bill said, "the men were gone and Tonks had to neutralize the women - they transformed in a cave, and she used some sort of fire spell to keep them there."

Father Alderman was nodding. "Lupin had to leave at the last minute. He found out that Father Montgomery's brother had accidentally tipped everyone off, and he knew where Greyback had gone. He went to try and stop them. They'd already killed Montgomery, and the little boy got in the way. But Tonks had to stay with us. She had to get us through a magical gate. She used fire for that as well." He looked at Teddy and smiled tentatively. "She was very brave. They both were. She stayed with us after we transformed, overhead on her broom, pushing us through. There was a guard for each of us on the other side, in the Forbidden Forest, but it was just her on our side."

Teddy blinked. "How... how could Dad have helped if you were all transformed?"

"He challenged Greyback," Vivian said. "Distracted him long enough for the family he was protecting to cast spells. The daughters were away of course, but Greyback would have killed the parents and taken the little boy. As it was, the boy wouldn't even have died if he hadn't tried to run out to his uncle's body. Lupin was hurt very badly - he was no match for Greyback as a wolf - but he saved both parents."

Something slick seemed to turn over inside Teddy, leaving a trail of sick anger in its wake. He'd saved some other child's parents, but no one had bothered to save _him_. Or Mum.

Vivian's natural eye widened, as she apparently realized what she'd said, but she didn't try to take it back. She just looked down.

Professor Longbottom frowned and said, "Where does Bill come into this? I understand about Lupin, but I thought the attack on Bill was just part of the battle."

"He recognized me," Bill said. "I'd been helping Lupin get information on the children, and I went to the woods with Tonks once to help her sort out what she'd need to do. He saw me there. He recognized me by my hair. Tonks told me I should have hidden it. I was also one of the guards at the other end, when she sent the children through, but there's no way that Greyback would know who was there. He was busy elsewhere, and he's never found out about the sanctuary village." Noting several blank looks, he added, "Fleur's grandmother helped us hide them, along with Father Alderman's parents. They've got quite a little village in France."

"Which is exactly where you should all go," Father Alderman said. "Victoire will be at Hogwarts, but you and Fleur and the rest of the children need to be somewhere safe. The others will know how to look out for Greyback and - "

Bill shook his head. "I can't go to France. I'm staying to help with this search. Fleur, you should - "

"I do not _theenk_ so! I am not leaving you alone 'ere to join a 'unt for a madman! I am not a child to be set aside!"

Teddy hadn't felt Granny get up, and it surprised him when he saw her approach Fleur. It surprised him more when she raised one flat hand and slapped the younger woman across the face. "Don't be an idiot," she said. "You have five children. You can't rush off on the scatterbrained notion that you'll make a damned bit of difference just because you're with him. You won't."

"But Tonks - "

"Died," Teddy finished.

Fleur looked at him guiltily.

Uncle Harry sighed. "I don't think it's necessary for all of you to go to France. If we could secure Shell Cottage against Voldemort, we can secure it against Greyback. Andromeda, I've already taken the liberty of securing your home."

Granny looked skeptical - magical protections had been shattered around their home during the war, and Teddy knew she didn't entirely trust them - but nodded.

" _Does_ he know about me?" Teddy asked. "This Greyback bloke, I mean."

"We don't know," Granny told him. "Your mum was very careful once her pregnancy started to show, but Greyback worked with the Snatchers that year, and it was a group of Snatchers who murdered your grandfather." She pressed her mouth into a thin line, then said, "I don't know if he was forced to tell them anything before he died."

Teddy bit his lip. "If he does know and you think he'll come after me, then I could just sit out in a field somewhere and you could watch me and maybe - "

The "No" came from at least four people - Uncle Harry, Granny, Professor Longbottom, and Vivian. Teddy had a feeling it was coming from elsewhere as well, from two voices that spoke silently. But instead of feeling cared for, the anger that had started with Vivian's comment just seemed to get worse. He couldn't quite pinpoint who he was angry at. Greyback, he supposed.

"I think we know everything we need to know," Hermione said after a while. "I spoke to Millicent. She said there are about two dozen werewolves in the group that broke Greyback out of Azkaban. They were led by a woman called Mina."

"I think Mina will regret it," Vivian said. "She was his favorite when they took us, but she's quite a bit too old for Greyback now, and he won't fancy it if she's got a taste for power."

"I'll ask Millicent for any help she can give us when I go to see her tomorrow," Alderman said. "It may help her to help us."

"May I go with you?" Teddy asked.

Alderman looked at him, surprised. "Why do you want to go?"

Teddy didn't know. He shrugged.

"We'll see," Alderman said. "It's up to your grandmother."

After that, there was talk of specific security measures, and Teddy ignored most of it. He felt something warm beside him, and found that Victoire had slid over. She was chewing on her lip. Teddy reached up absently and messed up her hair.

Once the arrangements were made, Teddy went home with Granny. He didn't notice the new security spells, though he and Granny had to Apparate nearly all the way to the pond, instead of just to the front garden, to get in.

He'd been gone less than the week he'd planned on, but it felt different, like he felt visiting his nursery after moving into the room across the hall. His cat, Checkmate, ran out eagerly and stopped in front of him, kneading the carpet with great energy until he picked her up. She began to groom his eyebrows. Behind her, old Bludger waddled out. He was her uncle, or half-uncle, or some such relationship. Mum's cat had been Bludger's mum, and was Checkmate's grandmother, at any rate. Bludger was the last of his litter, and didn't seem to know what to make of his energetic younger kin. He nudged Teddy's shoelaces with his graying muzzle, and Teddy squatted to scratch his ears.

Granny went to the liquor cabinet and poured herself a glass of brandy. She sat down on the sofa and didn't drink it. Instead, she picked up a picture of Mum that was on the end table. Teddy knew it well; Mum was about fifteen in it, and dressed up as a superhero for a costume party. It had been his favorite picture of her for a long time. Granny turned it over and set it, face down, on the couch, then covered her eyes. "I'm sorry," she said to the ceiling.

Teddy went to her and sat down beside her. She hugged him fiercely, and combed his hair with her fingers. He was much too big for that now, but he didn't make her let go.

Once her mood lifted a bit, she went to the kitchen to start supper.

Teddy went to his room, which his parents had once shared. There were fewer pictures of them now than there had once been - the walls were mostly covered with posters of Muggles and Minions characters (including one that Granny disapproved of, which showed a chemist in a short dress with the top starting to come unbuttoned, holding up a beaker) and pictures of his friends. There was even a poster from Donzo's tour with the Weird Sisters last summer. They all looked very stupid. He went to a drawer and pulled out a picture of Dad with his school friends, the Marauders - Sirius Black, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew. All four boys were in their dormitory at Hogwarts, which was a cheerful mess. Teddy could just make out posters of girls in swimsuits on the wall, and a scattered deck of cards on a table they'd scrounged from somewhere. They were laughing and making obscene gestures at the camera.

Greyback had been somewhere out there then, too.

Teddy went to the large bed and lay down at the center of it, the picture held against his chest. He stayed there, still and quiet, until Granny called him down to eat.

Teddy woke up the next morning to the soft, repetitive sound of Checkmate grooming Bludger's face a few inches away from him. Bludger was purring and stretching his claws, pricking the edge of Teddy's neck with each lick from Checkmate.

He pushed back. "C'mon... whole bed... other side..."

Bludger rolled over after him, and Checkmate climbed over Bludger's body to continue his bath. She turned neatly and sat down in front of Teddy's face, brushing her tail back and forth over his nose.

He pushed it away. "All right, I'm up."

He rolled off the edge of the bed, not wanting to think about why he was so tired, why he had been up until well past midnight, lying in the center of his parents' bed, sandwiched between two cats and staring at the ceiling. He'd gone searching through his camp luggage, frantically digging for Dad's wedding ring, which he kept on a chain and wore when he wasn't swimming, and he'd found it and was wearing it, but it all seemed very distant in the morning light.

But of course, it came back. Insane werewolves who might or might not be hunting him down tended to do that.

Granny was getting her things together for work when he came downstairs, and she didn't look like she'd slept much, either. "Did you still want to visit Millicent Bulstrode?" she asked.

Teddy nodded and got a loaf of cinnamon bread from the cupboard. He peeled off six slices, and Granny toasted them with a flick of her wand while he hunted for butter, and perhaps some eggs. Sausage if there was any around. He found the butter, and grabbed a muffin from a box he found beside it.

Granny raised her eyebrows. "I think we'd do well to get two sets of school robes for this year," she said. "Unless you want to spend the second half of it morphed shorter."

Teddy smiled and started breaking his eggs into a bowl. Granny shook her head and took over magically while he tucked in to the toast.

"Why do you want to see Millicent?" she asked.

"I don't know."

"I was there when she was brought in. She's in very bad shape, Teddy."

Teddy thought about it. "I reckon Dad would've gone. Wouldn't she have been one of his students, if Uncle Harry knows her?"

"I can't argue there," Granny said. "But follow Father Alderman's lead. If he doesn't think you should be there, go."

Teddy nodded. His eggs finished scrambling and cooking themselves, and he ate them quickly. By the time he was finished, it was time for Granny to leave for her shift. She told him to follow by Floo to her office when he'd got dressed. He took his time on this, enjoying the emptiness of the house, playing some of the songs Mum had stashed away in the back of the desk she'd left behind and trying a few of the dance moves he'd seen at Donzo's rehearsals last week. They were harder than they looked, and he was rather glad he wasn't trying them while singing under a _Sonorus_ charm to a lot of people. He ducked out into the garden and picked some fresh flowers, then pulled on a clean brown robe over his jeans, scratched both cats (and checked their bowls) and Flooed out to Granny's office at St. Mungo's, feeling much better than he had yesterday. He spilled out, arms akimbo, onto her floor, and from her desk, she flipped her wand without looking to clean up the ash.

She was going through a thick patient file, tapping it here and there with her wand, and she only looked up long enough to smile and say hello, and direct Teddy over to the books in the waiting area. There were reasons he only visited her here on rare occasions.

Five minutes after he arrived, the door opened, and Vivian Waters came in. "I see Teddy's here," she said. "Which means you haven't got the charm quite right, Andromeda."

Granny closed her file. "Hmm. That one always worked on Mad-Eye. I guess they've improved the eye over the years. Though I've never known why they found it necessary to make it possible to see through things."

"Compensation," Vivian said, then looked at Teddy, her mismatched eyes warm and friendly. "Alderman's finished talking to Millicent about private things, and he asked if she would mind a visit from you. She said it would be all right, as long as he and I stayed. Pansy Parkinson is there as well."

Teddy nodded and picked up the flowers he'd taken from the garden, which had spilled when he fell out of the fireplace, then followed her out. They went without speaking through the old corridors, up the stairs to Dai Llewellyn Ward, where Aurors were posted beyond a set of privacy screens. Vivian led Teddy through them. Inside the screens, Father Alderman was sitting soberly beside the bed, where a heavily bandaged woman was lying still. Her bruised eyes were visible above the linen, but other than that, Teddy couldn't tell what she looked like. One arm was wrapped tightly from the fingertips to the shoulder, and the blanket collapsed halfway down her right leg. Across from Father Alderman was an aggressively cheerful woman with dark hair and an upturned nose. She was speaking stridently.

"...Order of Merlin, Millicent! First class. That's something. A hero! Perhaps you'll be on the Wizengamot someday. Oh, you must be Professor Lupin's son." She stuck her hand out in Teddy's direction. "I'm Pansy Parkinson. I rather liked him despite..." She shrugged casually, and Teddy wasn't sure if she meant "Despite being a werewolf" or "Despite being on the other side of the war." He was reasonably sure he'd heard this name before, and not in a kindly light. She smiled brightly at Millicent. "You remember Professor Lupin, don't you? They're not all what you saw."

"Mmm," Millicent said. "Cats..."

"Oh, I'll take care of your cats, don't you worry even a little bit about that. I'll bring them right to my own house. And you may stay there if you like as soon as you're all better." Pansy Parkinson looked stunned by her own generosity in this matter. She preened a bit and said, "Well, I'll leave you to talk to your new friends. But don't you forget your old ones!" She gave a glassy, dazed smile, and ducked out, walking quickly.

Millicent's eyes moved over toward Father Alderman. "Not staying... Pansy's."

He smiled. "You'll be welcome in France, as soon as you're well enough to travel. Nate and Evvie Blondin have room in their house. You'll like them."

Teddy took a tentative step inside and held out the flowers. "Here," he said. "I picked them for you. I thought... well, that my Dad would have wanted to see you."

She blinked slowly in acknowledgment. Teddy wasn't sure what he meant to say to her. He just said, "You were really brave."

She tried to smile, and made a horrible sound as her hurt face rubbed against the bandages.

Teddy let Vivian and Father Alderman take over, and just sat helplessly beside the bed, wishing he hadn't come. He didn't have anything to add. But then he thought about Dad, six years old, lying in a bed somewhere in this ward. He'd have wanted people to visit.

The Healers came to tend her an hour later, and Teddy left gratefully with the others. Granny still had most of her shift left, but she didn't want him home alone, so he Flooed to Uncle Harry's, where he spent the day playing hide and seek with James and Al. Lily was toddling madly about, but couldn't quite figure out the rules of the game yet.

The next day, Granny insisted that he return, and the day after that, he was sent to Shell Cottage to help Fleur with things that she couldn't even think of ways for him to help with. He realized, with dawning mortification, that Granny had been arranging _babysitters_ for him. At thirteen! She didn't even bother to deny it when he confronted her about it. He asked if he might at least spend the day at Frankie's, but that was out of the question, as Maddie and Daffy both worked - Frankie looked after Carny, and baby Mac went to work with Maddie, carried in a sling - and besides, Badger Hill wasn't secured. Nor, she said before he could bring it up, was Donzo's house, or Tinny's, or Ruthless's, or Maurice's. "Your choices are Shell Cottage, Uncle Harry's, or the Romp." The Romp was Ron and Hermione's house - named for what they called a great lot of otters, as Teddy understood it, though the adults made off-color jokes about why it was really named that, much to Hermione's annoyance - and he'd never spent any real time there. He opted to go there next. Ron and Hermione both worked, but Molly watched the children during the day, and Teddy didn't mind having her cooking handy. He spent most of the day buried in Hermione's library, with Rosie curled up ostentatiously in front of him, reading a book of fairy tales. Teddy himself read a pile of news clippings about Greyback's escape. Rita Skeeter had published an article wondering why Greyback had been in Azkaban at all, when Ron and Professor Longbottom, both experienced fighters, had been fighting him. She insinuated that their notorious fondness for werewolves - via Dad, of course, though she went out of her way to say that naturally, that was justified - had kept them from the logical step of just killing Greyback when they should have. Teddy found it hard to argue with the sentiment.

By the end of the second week of this, he was fed up and tired. He'd got an invitation to Donzo's concert, with backstage passes, but the security against Greyback wasn't deemed good enough, and when the rest of the Weird Sisters heard the reasoning, they decided that it might be best not to be a target anyway. Donzo wrote him an apologetic letter, which didn't help matters, as he mentioned that they'd all got together the next day for a game of Muggles and Minions. Teddy invited everyone to Granny's house, but only Maurice and Tinny could come, and they couldn't make much of a game with just the three of them. Teddy felt they were only coming out of charity, and he didn't try to invite people again.

There was no sign of Greyback, even as the next full moon approached, and the fear Teddy had felt the first day was replaced almost entirely by anger and annoyance. He found himself arguing with Granny, snapping at James during a stay at Uncle Harry's (James went off to his room and cried, though he wouldn't admit it, and Teddy felt like the world's biggest bully), and not answering concerned letters from his friends. When it came time to buy school supplies in Diagon Alley, three days after the full moon had passed uneventfully, Ron and Uncle Harry escorted both Teddy and Victoire. Victoire didn't seem to mind - she was still bubbling with enthusiasm about getting her wand, and Teddy had to watch her try several at Ollivander's before she came up with a holly and unicorn hair wand that worked for her. They had to be fitted for robes at the same time at Madam Malkin's (Madam Malkin helped Victoire while her apprentice measured Teddy), and were marched through the apothecary at startling speed. All of their required books were ordered by owl. There was no leisurely stop at Tinny's parents' restaurant, or a butterbeer at the Leaky Cauldron. They just went back to Granny's.

Bill's family was waiting, along with Hermione, Aunt Ginny, and their children, and they all had dinner together in the garden. The cats were happily chasing gnomes as Victoire sang the praises of her new wand, and Uncle Harry agreed that holly wands were the best to be had. Marie and Aimee wanted to play tag in the garden, and sulked when Teddy said he didn't want to. Artie practiced standing on his head.

"Are you looking forward to the new school year?" Hermione asked Teddy. "Rosie said you were reading my old Charms textbooks yesterday."

Teddy shrugged. "Just looking a few up." He watched Checkmate dart after a gnome. Bludger had run under the fence to grab one for himself, as he couldn't keep up with her.

"I'm sure all of this will be over soon," she said soothingly.

"Right," Ron added. "We'll catch him. We just have to find out where they're hiding themselves. We thought they might give themselves away at the full moon, but Greyback's got them under better control than that. We'll get them though."

"And kill him?" Teddy asked.

"Not if we can avoid it," Uncle Harry said sternly.

Teddy didn't answer this. He just stared gloomily out at the hills beyond the security bubble, wishing he could be out there. "I'll bet they've just left," he said. "I would. I'll bet they've gone somewhere else entirely, and all of this is for nothing."

"Well, I'd rather do it for nothing than not do it and have something go wrong," Granny said.

"That's because you don't have babysitters."

"Teddy - "

"Well, it's true. I'm going inside." He scooped up Checkmate, who protested loudly, as she was about to chase a gnome under the fence.

Granny took him by the arm and pulled him aside, leading him to the fence on the far side of the garden. "I don't care how unhappy you are, you will stop being rude this _instant_ , Teddy, or so help me, I will Scourgify your mouth."

"But this is so stupid! I can't even - "

But he stopped, as Granny had suddenly stood up, losing interest in the conversation entirely. Her face went white.

"Bludger?" she called.

Teddy turned and looked over the fence, in the direction she was looking. Bludger was slinking along in the grass coming from the pond, just inside the security line. He looked up miserably and made a plaintive sound, then fell down and rolled over.

Teddy forgot the argument and handed Checkmate to Granny. He clambered over the fence and ran out, ignoring Uncle Harry's warning - both Uncle Harry and Ron were running after him anyway. He reached the bundle of fur and saw that Bludger's white underbelly was bright red. He rolled his glassy eyes in Teddy's direction, then they went empty.

Uncle Harry and Ron caught up to him, then looked at each other and ran out to the edge of the barrier, and beyond. Hermione stopped behind Teddy, and crouched to look at Bludger. She closed her eyes and muttered a word Teddy hadn't realized she'd known.

Teddy didn't need to ask who she was swearing at.


	4. The New Assistant

**Chapter 4:**

 **The New Assistant**

The rest of the night passed in a swarm of images - Uncle Harry and Ron coming back with a disheveled woman with matted black hair and blood on her face, the woman lunging in Teddy's direction and saying "I know you," the arrival of the Minister of Magic himself (kept very quiet) to decide exactly what to do with her, the swirl of cloaks as they took her to Azkaban, Granny cleaning the blood out of Bludger's fur, digging a hole beside his littermates Quaffle and Snitch for him to rest in, Al starting to cry when they started shoveling dirt back in. Teddy wasn't sure when everyone left, but they were gone by the time he went to bed. He'd moved Checkmate's litter tray into his bedroom and closed her in with him, locking the window, just in case. She mewed plaintively, slipping her paw under the door, looking for Bludger, until Teddy scooped her up and rubbed her belly until she went to sleep.

She became an indoor cat after that, taken out only when Teddy left the house for the day to stay at Uncle Harry's or Shell Cottage or the Romp. In those cases, she was brought with him, and she stuck close to him. She stopped looking for Bludger after a week, but attached herself to Teddy in his place, rarely letting him out of her sight for more than an hour. He wasn't sure what he was going to do with her in school, where she couldn't very well go to classes with him. If Victoire was in Gryffindor, maybe she could bring Bushy, Checkmate's littermate (whose full name, _Beau Chaton_ , hadn't been used since the day she'd got him), up to his room during the day so they could keep each other company.

They weren't able to get anything directly out of the werewolf they'd caught, including her name (though Father Alderman identified her as someone called Janice). Uncle Harry speculated that at some point, the pack had managed to gather a skilled witch or wizard, who was using the same concealment spells he had used to hide from the Ministry for a year. They weren't able to keep her in Azkaban for killing Bludger, though Teddy thought that ought to be a life sentence, but Hermione was able to convince the Wizengamot that it had been a death threat to Teddy and Granny, which _did_ carry a term in prison. A few voices said she ought to be kept indefinitely, since she was a werewolf, which put Hermione in the position of arguing that she _shouldn't_ be, as she ought to have the same rights as anyone else. Dad's name was duly invoked. Teddy wondered what he would say about it.

After what seemed a never ending August, boxed into the small world of high security, September first seemed to quite suddenly jump out of nowhere. Teddy had done no packing, despite being trapped inside, and he ended up staying up until one-thirty tossing everything he needed into his trunk. He slept in the car on the way to King's Cross, with Checkmate enchanted into her own long nap in her basket on his lap. He was still woozy when they got there, and at first, didn't notice that half of the Auror Department was there, patrolling near Platform Nine and Three Quarters.

Of course, he couldn't see them very well. The platform was madly busy, much more so than it had been the last two years. He blinked owlishly. "What's all this?"

"Hogwarts," Granny said, looking confused.

Two younger children ran by with trolleys, their families behind them. There was a knot near the barrier. The Aurors must have actually put up some magical concealments, because the Muggles on platforms nine and ten seemed utterly oblivious to the crowd. Peering through it, Teddy spotted a shiny, bald head rising above the sea of children, in the midst of a group of Aurors.

"Is that Minister Shacklebolt?" he asked.

Granny nodded. "His son's eleven. It was in the _Daily Prophet_. I don't imagine Kingsley's thrilled to be letting go in the midst of a prisoner escape."

A blond woman with perfect curls was moving around the edge of the group of Aurors, as Kingsley Shacklebolt (and, presumably, his son) waited for their turn to go through. Teddy recognized her, of course - Rita Skeeter. She had an acid green quill hovering beside her.

"Minister! Minister! As a former Auror, how do you respond to the widespread allegations that the Department is not pursuing Fenrir Greyback with all due diligence?"

The Minister's slow, deep voice rose over the noise of the crowd. "Miss Skeeter, the allegations I have heard are spread precisely as widely as you can make your voice heard. I have no response to such spurious accusations."

Rita gave up, and ran to the end of the line of Aurors. "Harry Potter! Has your sympathy for werewolves influenced your decision not to pursue Fenrir Greyback?"

Uncle Harry rolled his eyes and turned away. He spotted Teddy and grinned, which was a mistake, as Rita immediately followed where he was looking. She scurried toward Teddy and Granny.

"Healer Tonks, your home was breached - "

"I have no comment, Rita," Granny said.

Rita looked at Teddy avariciously. "And Teddy Lupin... my goodness, what a chance to talk to someone who's been deeply touched by lycanthropy. Do you have anything to say?"

Before Granny could stop him, Teddy gave Rita a quote that he was reasonably sure she wouldn't be able to print in a family newspaper.

Uncle Harry was trying not to laugh when Teddy reached him. "Teddy, you may regret that," he said, "but I think it was worth it."

"Harry!" Granny interjected.

He grinned. "I can't go in with you this year, Teddy. We're making sure no one gets through who oughtn't. But you may see me sooner than you think, and if you recall, I promised to teach you something this year."

"What? Oh! The Patronus Charm!"

"It may even come in useful. You can use it to call for help if you need it."

Teddy didn't care whether or not it was useful, only that Uncle Harry was going to keep his promise to teach it. For the first time since he'd left Trollsbane Tarn, he felt purely happy.

The Minister passed through the barrier, and a moment later, Uncle Harry gave Teddy leave to go. On the other side, he found Bill Weasley's family, all gathered around Victoire, who looked like she was about to start shooting fireworks from her ears in her excitement.

"TEDDY! TEDDY!" She waved frantically just as Ruthless Scrimgeour, in the company of a boy with frizzy red hair exactly like her own, passed behind her. Ruthless clapped her hands over her heart and batted her eyelashes, then was dragged off by the crowd. Victoire saw none of this. She ran over to Teddy. "Oh, it's time. Do I look all right? May I sit with you?"

Teddy nodded. "Sure. Have you seen Frankie? We usually sit in his compartment."

"I saw him, but he's a _prefect_ ," she said. "Didn't he tell you? I thought he would have."

Teddy shook his head miserably. "He must have got the note after... _after_. I haven't talked to him much."

"Oh. I saw Donzo, though. He already went onto the train, so he wouldn't have to talk to Rita Skeeter."

Three more first years bundled through, knocking Teddy to one side. "What _is_ this?" he asked again.

"Ah, Bill!" Teddy looked up. The Minister of Magic, looking quite relieved, was on his way over. He held out his hand to shake Bill's. "It's been a while since I've been here."

Bill smiled, in the stiff way he had through his scars. "Me, too. Is that Alastor hiding behind you?"

A small boy leaned out from behind the Minister. Teddy had only met him a few times during various Christmases at Uncle Harry's. He had large dark eyes behind horn-rimmed glasses, and a large puff of black hair. He looked terrified. His mother didn't seem to be present, but, as Teddy understood it, she did a lot of international work, and was probably off somewhere being diplomatic.

Victoire smiled. "Hi, Story. You can sit with me. If it's all right with Teddy, as I'm sitting with his friends."

"Er..." Teddy started, not sure how many people would be in the compartment at this point.

"Of course it's all right," Granny said, giving him a warning smile.

"Sure," Teddy said, wondering if an Auror was going to be guarding Story the whole way. A moment later, someone barreled into him. It was Ruthless again, and Maurice Burke was now in her wake along with the redheaded boy, who turned out to be her brother Kirk ("The first of _four_ ," she groaned, "so I won't get a moment's peace ever again!"). She led them to the compartment Donzo, Zachary, Bernice, Tinny, and Corky had staked out. They all welcomed Teddy hugely, and chastised him for not returning their letters, then noticed three first years tagging along.

By the time they'd all been introduced, the train was pulling out of the station. Victoire went to the window to wave goodbye to her sisters, but Kirk was no more interested in farewells than Ruthless had ever been, and Story figured his father would be staying well out of the crowd, probably back with the Aurors outside. "I think he still wants to be an Auror," he told Teddy. "He's been reading all the files and talking to Harry Potter in the parlor twice a week since Fenrir Greyback got out, and it sounded more like helping in the investigation than taking a report. Although I wasn't listening, of course." He smiled.

Tinny proposed a Muggles and Minions game, but Story and Kirk didn't have characters, and no one felt like going back to the beginning, or trying to move around without Frankie's characters, so instead, Donzo taught them the group songs until they were well out of the city, and the countryside was rolling by beyond the window. Teddy pulled Checkmate - who was still sleeping - out of her basket, and popped her in with Bushy, in Victoire's luggage. They mewed groggily, then curled up around each other. Here, with his friends, even with the new first years taking up more space than seemed normal, Teddy thought that Fenrir Greyback seemed far away.

There was a sharp rap at the door, and then it opened.

Maurice groaned and tossed a Chocolate Frog box at the girl standing in the door. "Oh, I thought we had the rest of the way to Scotland!"

She sighed, affecting an expression of martyrdom. Her long dark hair had been brought up into a tight bun, and she was carrying a scroll and a gray quill.

Corky stood up and went to the door. "Did you need something, Higgs?"

"I wanted to talk to Teddy about the Greyback case."

"You're off the _Charmer_!" Ruthless said. "And you can't think Teddy's thick enough to talk to you. He knows you'll just send it back to Skeeter."

Honoria Higgs gathered herself up importantly. "Professor Slughorn told me I could go back to the paper if I proved I was serious reporter. I'm not going to report gossip, like Miss Skeeter. I'm going to get a hard news story. It's the most important thing happening, and Teddy's a witness." She craned her neck eagerly. "Is that Alastor Shacklebolt?"

Ruthless reached back and put her hand over Story's mouth. "No idea," she said. "Curious, isn't it? A boy without a name."

"I'm not going to gossip!" Honoria insisted. "Slughorn won't let me back on if I do."

Corky looked at her shrewdly. "Try a different story, Honoria. Leave Teddy alone."

"It's all right," Teddy said, though it wasn't. "I don't want to talk about it. I don't know anything."

Looking disappointed, Honoria closed the door and walked away.

"Do you think she's really given up gossip?" Corky asked.

"Sure," Ruthless said. "Like Bernice's cousin Dung keeps giving up smoking." She burrowed into her trunk and came up with a deck of cards. "Anyone for Exploding Snap?"

The rest of the ride went perfectly well. Frankie Apcarne finished his business with the prefects and came back to the compartment as the train entered the moors in York, and filled everyone in on the news from school. "It looks like they're back up to regular sized classes after the last two years," he said. "The Head Boy - Damien Firth, from Ravenclaw - was making it sound like the apocalypse, I don't know why. I think he's letting the power go to his head, though. He wants us to organize outside the train and practically be an army to get them into line." He grinned. "Mind, they might just have heard that Weasley's coming, and don't want to take any chances."

Victoire fished in her handbag for a prank, but ended up just showing the corner of a label before Frankie raised his hands in fake surrender.

"Who's Head Girl?" Zachary asked, with more interest than Teddy thought the question deserved.

"Christa Milne," Frankie said, puffing up. He looked at the first years. "Hufflepuff, naturally."

"My girlfriend," Zachary said. "Naturally." He smiled and leaned back. "It pays to go out with older women."

"Since when?" Bernice Fletcher demanded. "Why didn't we know this?"

"Since after Donzo's concert." Zachary tipped an invisible hat at Donzo. "She was quite impressed with my backstage pass."

Donzo snorted. "Watch out for groupies. She may not be entirely sincere."

"You know, that was the first thing I thought about when I saw her. The depth of her sincerity."

Ruthless, across a hand of Snap from Teddy, rolled her eyes hugely.

"Brilliant," Frankie said. "I'm sure you'll be happy having nothing to do with her all day." He pulled a trunk around to sit in front of the window. "So, Tinny - no new players?"

"Well, no one really wanted to start just now."

Story shrugged. "I'd like to learn, if I could. Just not today. Nerves. I'd forget it all."

"We should have a game on Saturday," Frankie told him. "We'll get you set up. We have people in all of the Houses who could help you put a character together." He looked at Kirk Scrimgeour.

Kirk said, "I wasn't planning to start at all. That's Ruth's business."

Ruthless folded her hands around her cards and said, "Thank you, God, and if you could arrange for him to be in Ravenclaw or Slytherin next, I'd be very appreciative." The cards didn't appreciate being bent, and exploded with a pop, leaving her fingers and face dusted with black powder.

"You don't want your brothers in your House?" Victoire asked.

"Do you want your sisters there?"

"Well... yes. I like my sisters. Besides, it'll be much easier to leave flobberworms in their shampoo if I don't have to go all the way across the school for it."

Kirk looked at her with admiration, then dawning fear. He folded his own hands and said, "Ravenclaw or Slytherin, Amen."

As the train passed Edinburgh, Christa Milne appeared at the door. She smiled sweetly at Zachary, and Teddy thought she looked perfectly sincere, which was good, as Zach was a decent sort of bloke, then told Frankie that he was expected with the prefects. Frankie left with the air of a martyr being taken to his death.

By the time they got to Hogsmeade Station, Teddy had all but forgotten that there was a mad werewolf on the loose. He was just looking forward to the Sorting Feast, and to settling into his room on the fifth floor of Gryffindor Tower. But when the train pulled in, they were all reminded of it. There was an adult posted at every exit from the train, at least half of them Aurors. Teddy could see Uncle Harry again, now near the engine, keeping watch on the surrounding hills. There was no question of waving.

"Firs' years!" Hagrid called cheerfully, weaving among the students and guardians. "Firs' years, over here."

Victoire turned, smiling broadly. "Wish me luck," she said.

"I'll see you in the Common Room," he said.

Story looked nervously around, and Teddy gave him a punch to the arm, rather enjoying being one of the older children again. "It's fine. I reckon your mum and dad will like anywhere you end up."

He smiled. "Thanks. I want Ravenclaw, though. Shacklebolts have always been Ravenclaws."

"Then think blue and bronze thoughts."

"I'll do that."

"Donzo!" Teddy called across the group. "Story wants your House, wish him luck."

"Good luck!" Donzo called.

Kirk gave Ruthless a challenging look.

"Oh, all right," she said. "Good luck. You know you'll end up in Gryffindor, anyway."

He smiled and followed the others down the slope to the boats.

Teddy led the way to the carriages, wondering if he'd be able to see the thestrals, since he'd seen Bludger die, but apparently, a cat didn't work for the magical rules. He climbed into a carriage with Ruthless, Tinny, Corky, Maurice, and Donzo; Zachary and Bernice caught the next one. They traveled up the bumpy road to the castle gates, guarded by their gargoyles, and wound around to the front doors. Quite a lot of boats seemed to be coming across the lake, but there was no time to count them. They all straightened one another's robes, and Ruthless jabbed a clip at her hair (to no effect that Teddy noticed), then chugged her Clear-Eye Concoction and took off her glasses. They split up to go to their own House tables. Aaron Howe, a second year Gryffindor who was on decent terms with Teddy, waved him over, and Ruthless followed. (The second year class had also been culled by Voldemort's war, and only had twenty-two students, most with birthdays in the latter part of the year. They'd formed a tight-knit group last year, mostly centered around the Ravenclaw cadre, which put the two small years in different social orbits, though they got on perfectly well when pressed.) The prefects reappeared looking stunned about something.

There was much shuffling around to leave the right amount of space at the end of the tables, as the Sorting Hat gave a memorial of smoke figures. Teddy tried to sit near the end of the Gryffindors, in hope of seeing a clearer view of Dad, Sirius Black, and James Potter, who - thanks to their map - he thought of as old friends who he could only see at school. He'd managed last year to be nearly on top of the spot where Sirius rose, and he waved, though the smoke figure didn't have any particular consciousness.

The doors opened, but instead of the first years, four Aurors fanned in, two to each side of the door. A small, hooded figure came next, and darted up to the high table to sit beside Hagrid, who'd appeared from his trip across the lake. Then Professor Longbottom appeared, back first, holding his hands up. "Form two lines!" he said, then turned around and led the way in. The first years entered.

And entered.

And entered.

They were in two even lines, and the first ones were well into the room before the last ones came through the door.

"There's got to be sixty of them!" Aaron whispered.

Teddy thought he might be underestimating, but he hadn't bothered to start counting the rows.

Victoire, toward the end, passed with a nervous smile and a subtle wave, then they were crowded around the Sorting Hat, impossible to count.

"Think the country was celebrating something?" Andrew Stephens - a seventh year prefect who'd led Teddy back to Gryffindor two years ago, when he'd first got his badge - said, grinning.

The Sorting Hat - invisible in the crowd, began to sing.

 _"Once in long gone ages past, With Hogwarts newly built..."_

Teddy tuned out. "Is this the normal size? Really?"

Andrew shook his head. "No. This, Teddy, is a baby boom. My mum was wondering if we'd get one. Turns out we did. I guess the Headmistress told Damien that there was quite a crowd, but she didn't say how _big_ a crowd."

Teddy was still trying to comprehend the size of the group when the lights dimmed and the memorial to the war dead began. Dozens of candles went out over the Gryffindor table as the Hat sang about the sacrifices of the House. Smoke spun near Teddy, and he forgot the problem of the first years for a moment when he recognized Dad floating beside him, smiling serenely. He smiled back, and for a moment, he was sure they actually looked at one another. Then the figure drifted up toward the enchanted ceiling, and disappeared into the stars.

Professor Longbottom came forward with the list as soon as the last strains of the song died away. "Adams, Maeve."

A small girl with dishwater blond hair climbed onto the stool and took the hat, which took its time before announcing that she was a "SLYTHERIN!"

"Allen, Edward."

As Professor Longbottom worked his way down the list, Teddy looked up at the staff table, where the teachers seemed a bit dazed as well. Headmistress Sprout was conferring with Uncle Harry, who had slipped in through a door beyond the table - Teddy guessed the subject was Greyback - while Robards was talking softly to Hagrid and the small, hooded figure who'd come in with the Aurors. This seemed a casual catching up, exactly the sort of thing students were meant to refrain from during the solemnity of the Sorting.

"Moran, Wilhelmina."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Nesbitt, Leon."

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Niven, Clara."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Uncle Harry finished his conversation with the Headmistress and went to sit with Hagrid and Robards. He smiled warmly at the new person. Professor Trelawney and Professor Firenze, who split the Divination classes, were arguing intensely about something. Professor Flitwick was talking to Professor Slughorn and Professor Campbell, the gangly young man who taught Muggle Studies and was the Head of House for Hufflepuff.

"Ryan, Abigail."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Salinger, Peter."

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Scrimgeour, Kirk."

Teddy glanced at Ruthless, and was surprised to see her chewing her lip as her brother went forward and put the Hat on over his puff of unruly red hair. The crowd had thinned enough that Teddy could now see the Hat turning this way and that as he spoke. Teddy remembered the strange sense of moving flames that tickled through the cloth.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Ruthless stood up on the bench and gave a cheer, while Kirk pounded the air with his fist. Professor Longbottom gave them a long-suffering sigh. Kirk came to the table; Ruthless hugged him, then punched his arm and said, "Stay out of my business."

"Selig, Isadora."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Senders, Charles."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Shacklebolt, Alastor."

There was a great deal of whispering as tiny Story Shacklebolt took his place on the stool and put the Hat on. A moment later, he smiled broadly as it indeed declared him a "RAVENCLAW!"

Teddy had to lean out now to see around the new people at the Gryffindor table and get a glimpse of Victoire Weasley, who was standing nervously between two boys who were looking at her with great admiration. As he watched, she reached out and straightened a bow tie that one of them was wearing, which peeked up above his robes. The boy seemed grateful, which couldn't be said for a girl whose hair ribbon Victoire attempted to right.

"Timmons, Ellen."

The girl with the crooked ribbon went up and was named a "HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Valance, Russell."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Washington, William."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Weasley, Victoire."

Professor Longbottom smiled fondly at Victoire as he handed her the Hat, and she sat down on the stool. She glanced around the room, chewing nervously at her cheek. She caught Donzo's eye, and he gave her a thumbs-up, then she looked at Teddy. Teddy gave her an encouraging nod. She put the Hat on.

It didn't pause before calling out "GRYFFINDOR!"

She smiled brightly. Ruthless winced, but, on a warning glance from Teddy, arranged her face into a smile.

Victoire bounded over and sat down beside him as the Sorting finished up.

As soon as the last first year - "Zuckerman, Dwight" - was placed in "SLYTHERIN!", Headmistress Sprout stood up and raised her arms.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she said. "I'm glad to see so very many new faces, though it will take time to get to know you all!" There was fond laughter from the other teachers. "I have some very serious announcements to make, the sort of announcements I hoped we would not hear again at Hogwarts. As I'm sure you are all aware, the werewolf Fenrir Greyback escaped from Azkaban. He has a particular fondness for children, and is likely to have an interest in Hogwarts. For that reason, throughout the year, until Greyback is recaptured, the school will be guarded by Aurors. You are not to interfere with them, however curious you may be, and you are to obey them _immediately_ if they give you instructions. Mr. Potter, would you care to comment?"

Uncle Harry came forward. "We'll patrol the corridors in official uniform, so you know that we belong here. We will also carry identification, and if you have any doubt that it's an Auror you're speaking to, _ask to see it_. The badge can't be duplicated. If you see adults here who don't belong here, find an Auror immediately." He stepped back.

"In addition," the Headmistress went on, "during Hogsmeade weekends, no one is to move about alone. Stay in groups of three or more. And, due to circumstances over the summer" - she gave Teddy a tragic look - "all pets, owls excepted, of course, are to remain inside the castle. This is for their safety."

This was met with silence.

The Headmistress took a deep breath. "That ends the security announcements. I would also like to introduce a new member of our staff, the Assistant Groundskeeper. She will be helping Professor Hagrid with his duties, so he can spend more time with his classes. You are expected to treat her with the respect due an adult at all times." She raised her hand, and the hooded figure came forward. Now that she was standing, Teddy could see that she was a woman. Long brown hair appeared at the base of the hood. "It's all right," Headmistress Sprout said to her. "They need to see you so they know you belong here."

Pale hands pushed the hood down, and there was a gasp throughout the hall when the mangled scars and mismatched eyes caught the candlelight.

It was Vivian Waters.


	5. The Moon and the Stars

**Chapter 5:**

 **The Moon and the Stars**

Checkmate mewed plaintively when Teddy locked her in his room the next morning.

He'd set several of her toys running around, and made sure her tray was clean and her bowls full, but she took no interest in any of it. She poked her paw under the door, claws up. He tapped them. "I'll be back at lunch, Checks. I'm sorry, but I don't want someone to take a bite out of you."

She gave a long whine.

He winced, then ran down the stairs to breakfast, morphing his hair into red and gold streaks as he went. Professor Longbottom was handing out class schedules when he came in. Teddy's first class was Divination, to be held in classroom eleven today and the North Tower on Wednesday. With only fifteen people in his year, they'd opted to have all of the electives held with merged houses, which simply felt _wrong_ to Teddy, but he supposed with the big years following, the teachers might have to split them up more.

Victoire slipped in beside him. She looked a little bit low. "Hi, Teddy."

"Hi. How was your first night in Gryffindor?"

A few other first year girls passed and Victoire smiled at them eagerly. They nodded back politely and moved on down the table.

She sighed. "Fine," she said. "I... well, it was fine. They're all very nice. Mina Moran and Abby Ryan were best friends already. And Janice Connerly met the other Muggle-borns. They had to take them into Diagon Alley together because there were so many." She shrugged. "They have friends already."

"Well, so do you," Teddy said. "Do you want that scone?"

She took it from her plate and handed it to him. "I'll have the apple, if it's all right with you."

He tossed it over to her.

"The pair of you do realize you can just ask for things of your own, don't you?" Ruthless asked. She plopped down on Teddy's other side. Kirk had taken a seat down the table with the other first year boys, who seemed to be gearing up for a food fight, and she looked irritated for some reason.

"Why waste it?" Victoire asked. "I'd probably not have eaten the scone, and Teddy always leaves fruit behind. It makes more sense to split up what's here, if we want things from one another's plates. Would you like anything, Ruth?"

"Chocolate," Ruthless muttered. "Lots of chocolate. Chocolate-covered chocolate, if they've got any." She pulled her Clear-Eye Concoction out of her bag and chugged it. "And this stuff will never catch on if they can't make it last longer than an hour at a time!"

"So why not just wear your glasses?" Victoire suggested. "You could buy prettier frames, if you want to. Something that suits your face better."

"I take this so I don't have to worry about losing my glasses on the Quidditch pitch. It's not about how it looks."

"Oh." Victoire twirled her hair. "Well, I have chocolates, anyway." She opened her purse and pulled out a silver box. "Here."

Ruthless looked at her suspiciously, then took the box, apparently deciding it was a peace offering. Teddy noticed the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes logo - subtly embossed on the side - just a moment too late. As soon as Ruthless took a bite, she exploded with puffy white rabbit fur.

Victoire grinned. "Bunny Bonbons," she said.

Ruthless, still in her sour mood, was less than amused. Teddy decided it was a good time to go catch up with the second years. He took his plate and slipped out from between them, going down the table to sit with Aaron and his dormitory mate, Harris Decker. Someone tapped his shoulder, and he turned to find Uncle Harry, in uniform. "May I have a look at your schedule?"

Teddy fumbled around and produced it from under his plate.

He scanned it. "Do you think you could meet me on Thursday nights?" he asked. "To work on what we talked about?"

"The Pat... the spell?" Teddy smiled. "Sure."

"Good, I'm off duty at six. Meet me in the entrance hall."

"Where will we go?"

"I'm working on a place."

He didn't say any more. Teddy finished his breakfast and went to classroom eleven, where he queued up with Corky, Tinny, Donzo, and Maurice, as well as Jane Hunter from Slytherin and Lizzie Richardson from Ravenclaw. Joe Palmer, Laura Chapman, and Roger Young, from Hufflepuff, rushed up just before the door swung open, and a palomino tail flicked away into the dimly lit room.

Teddy had been in classroom eleven only once before, in his first year, when he and his friends had found a kappa that had escaped from Robards' office. It had been a normal classroom then. Now, it had been magically transformed into a forest glade at twilight. On a tiny hill that stood where the teacher's desk had been, a large centaur stood with his back to the gathering class. An old woman with flyaway hair and skinny arms draped in bangles came forward.

"Oh, welcome! I'm so glad to meet you all in the physical world! Please take a seat on the, er... floor."

"Sit down, please," the centaur said, sounding irritated. He looked over his shoulder as they sat. "I am Professor Firenze. This year, you will take lessons from Professor Trelawney and myself, to give you an overview of both true Divination and" - he snorted - "fortune telling. Should you continue, years will alternate between the two subjects."

"I was crystal-gazing last night," Trelawney said, her voice sing-songy and excited, "to see with whom I would be communing today. Oh, there are great things ahead for all of you - love, fame, adventure... and _death_!" She turned on Teddy. "I see death in your future!"

Teddy had been warned about this - Ron had wanted to bet Uncle Harry that it would be Teddy she picked for the year's death omen, but Uncle Harry had refused to take the bet, as he'd be sure to lose - so he just smiled politely. "Thank you, Professor Trelawney. I'll keep that in mind."

"Good news for the rest of us, though," Maurice whispered when she was gone. "Apparently, _we're_ all immortal."

Teddy laughed.

Professor Firenze flicked his tail impatiently, and the various chatterings in the room stopped. "Time," he said, "is written in the skies. The planets tell us the story of what has been and what shall be, the great motions of the universe, not the mere foibles of humans. Here, you will learn to read the motions of the past and the future. You will..." He frowned and checked his class list. "Yes, Miss Gudgeon?"

Tinny nodded. "Excuse me, sir, but why would we want to read the past? In the stars, I mean. Isn't that History of Magic, rather than Divination?"

"History classes," Professor Firenze said, "are the fortune-telling of the past. Mere trivia. Wars, deaths, kings, ministers... ephemera."

"If none of that matters," Corky interrupted, "then what _does_ matter?"

Professor Firenze turned very slowly. "Manners, Mr. Atkinson. Manners matter. Including the raising of one's hand before speaking."

"Right," Corky said. "Sorry. So what matters, if nothing matters?"

"The present. And the understanding that all times exist in one time."

Corky raised his hand. "And why does it matter if we understand that or not?"

"Humans," Professor Firenze hissed, then shook his head. "Things matter for themselves, Mr. Atkinson."

The conversation went on, but Teddy's mind caught on what he'd said: _All times exist in one time._

He raised his hand. "If everything exists at the same time," he asked, "then how is it kept separated?"

Professor Firenze nodded solemnly. "A wise question, though you lack the requisite knowledge to understand the answer as of now."

Professor Trelawney took over the class after this (Teddy assumed, given how much they loathed each other, that the remaining classes would alternate between them rather than being shared), introducing them to different means of fortune-telling she intended to teach. Teddy's grandfather, for whom he'd been named, had been a Seer, good with the crystal ball, but more comfortable scrying in pools as Teddy understood it, and he was anxious to see if he'd ever See anything himself. Granddad had actually Seen Granny before he left for Hogwarts. Teddy had tried staring into puddles many times, but hadn't Seen anything yet.

After Divination, Teddy had Potions. Professor Slughorn invited him to a party, then regretfully said it would have to be a small one, as the Aurors weren't letting him invite adults onto school grounds until Greyback was captured. He appeared to consider this a grave injustice, especially when imposed by one of his favorites. He assigned a simple Brightening Brew, to get them back into the mode of thinking they needed to be in for school. Teddy found that, in the rush through the apothecary, he'd managed to forget billywig stings. Slughorn sent him to the classroom stores.

Inside the small closet, Slughorn had a cauldron of his own set up, brewing over a magically protected fire. There was a bottle of dragon bile on a small table beside it, and a live plant with triangular purple flowers. A few leaves had been pulled from it and crushed. Teddy reached toward them.

"Don't!"

He looked up.

Slughorn was standing in the doorway, his hand up. "Don't touch that. The juice is poison."

"You're brewing poison?"

"I'm brewing something for a fellow staff member," he said. "The plant is aconite. Also called monkshood. And," he raised his eyebrows in a significant way, "Wolfsbane."

"Oh," Teddy said, and drew his hand back.

"I trust you not to discuss that."

"I promise."

Teddy took one more look, then got his billywig stings and went back to class.

At breakfast the next day, Hagrid invited Teddy, Victoire, and any friends either of them wanted to bring - Victoire looked stricken, but Hagrid didn't notice - to come to tea. "Yeh'll be righ' there, Teddy," he said. "Fresh from yer first Care o' Magical Creatures class. Got something fun for yeh." He smiled fondly at whatever he had in mind. Given the reputation of Hagrid's first classes, Teddy's interest was definitely piqued. He spent Herbology and Arithmancy wondering if they'd have an Acromantula, or maybe a Hairy McBoon.

He headed down to the paddock after lunch, with Donzo, Maurice, and Corky. Tinny, Roger Young, Franklin Driscoll, and Jane Hunter met them there. Hagrid had a large cage, covered with a black blanket. He was dangling a lizard into the shadows behind the bars. "Here yeh are! Doesn't that look nice?"

A green hand shot out and grabbed the lizard, and a moment later, there was a final-sounding crunch.

"Wicked," Maurice said.

Hagrid turned to greet them. "All here, are yeh?" he asked, grinning. He pulled the blanket off like a broom salesman revealing a new model. Inside the cage were either two green monkeys, or two giant frogs with tails. "Brought 'em in just for you lot."

"Clabberts!" Corky said. "I've seen these!"

Hagrid looked crestfallen. "Yeh have? I thought they were from a bi' south o' where yeh're from."

Corky climbed the fence, grinning. "I took a trip down to North Carolina. Asheville - it's half magical, even though no one notices. They have a clabbert preserve there." He made a screeching noise, and the clabberts in the cage screeched back. Bright red pustules on their foreheads pulsed.

"See that there?" Hagrid said, pointing at the pustules and still seeming disappointed that anyone had seen the creatures before. "That lights up when the clabbert thinks he's in danger. American wizards used ter keep 'em as alarms, but Muggles noticed 'em too much." He picked up a large wooden box piled up with dead lizards. "We're going to feed this pair today. Get yeh used to bein' around magical creatures."

"Ew," Jane Hunter said.

"My mum's best friend is a zookeeper at the London Zoo," Roger said, reaching in. "He let me feed sea lions once when the place was closed. Do you toss them?" he asked Hagrid.

"If yeh like." Hagrid opened the cage, and the clabberts sniffed tentatively toward the door. Teddy could see sharp teeth. One was still holding the lizard Hagrid had given it. The wind blew from the cage and carried a sharp, unpleasant smell.

Roger went forward with a lizard, dangling it just out of reach. "Come on, now. Come on out and say hello. Mm, tasty!"

The first clabbert came out. It was about waist-high to Roger. It stared at the lizard for a long time, then shot its hand out quickly to grab it. Its friend followed, and the class started to reach into the lizard box. Roger tossed one for a clabbert to catch, and it leapt into the air. This proved amusing for everyone - clabberts included - so the whole class took to the game, until Tinny threw her lizard high enough to lodge in a nearby pine tree. The clabbert scampered up it, then seemed to notice, for the first time, the Forbidden Forest stretching beyond. Before anyone realized what it meant to do, it had jumped to another tree.

"Whoa!" Hagrid yelled. "Come down, now!"

The clabbert didn't listen.

"You lot" - he grabbed Tinny, Jane, Franklin, and Roger, who were in reachable distance - "grab some of the lizards. Teddy, yeh're in charge o' the other one 'til we get it back."

He rushed off. Teddy turned to the other clabbert... or to where the other clabbert had been. "WAIT! HAGRID!"

The clabbert had taken advantage of the distraction to make its own bid for freedom, and it made straight for the tallest tree it could see.

The Whomping Willow.

"Get it!" Teddy yelled, running after it, but by the time Maurice, Corky, and Donzo had picked up on what was happening, it had already grabbed a swinging branch and started to climb.

"Watch out for the branches," Donzo said as they entered the general area.

"Really?" Maurice said, eyes wide. "Do you think we need to?"

Something flew out of the tree and splattered onto the knee of Corky's robes. "Oh, great!" he said. "The one thing they have to really be like monkeys about!"

Teddy looked at the stain on the robes. It looked like a handful of greenish mud, but there was no mud in the Whomping Willow. The clabbert, now ensconced on a swinging branch, reached under his tail, and another missile came flying. Teddy ducked it just as he realized what it was and shouted.

"I think Gryffindor should lose points for language," Maurice suggested.

"I don't think it counts when you're just naming what's being thrown at you," Donzo pointed out, trying to level his wand at the clabbert.

Teddy crouched, trying to get a good view of where it was, wondering if he should attempt the Stunning Spell he'd found in a fifth year book, not really wanting to knock it out where the branches could hit it.

The clabbert held tight to a moving branch, squatting its way along it, giving itself an arsenal. The boys fanned out, all of them aiming their wands tentatively, none of them trying any incantations. The clabbert moved again, and suddenly the front of Donzo's robes was smeared. He sat down on the ground, laughing, looking very unlike his publicity photographs.

"Shame Honoria didn't take this, really," Maurice said, ducking another handful of clabbert dung. "I think she might finally have a kindred spirit here."

He wasn't as lucky with the next missile. The clabbert had scrambled up to a higher branch of the Whomping Willow and flung the dirt hard, and it landed squarely on the shoulder of Maurice's robes.

Corky laughed. "I'm going to like this cl - Oh!" He wiped the mess off the side of his face.

Teddy briefly considered stopping the branches; he was sure that Corky and Maurice wouldn't tell how. But he'd promised back in his first year not to share that, and he wouldn't. Professor Longbottom had pointed out that students who knew the Whomping Willow _could_ be stopped would be more likely to challenge it trying to do so.

Besides, he was sure they were having more fun than Jane and Roger and Tinny. _Their_ clabbert hadn't picked a moving tree. Teddy's clabbert, on the other hand, seemed to enjoy the game of swinging on the moving branches, using them to launch itself around. He wasn't at all sure _how_ they were going to get it down.

"Hey, green-boy!" Corky yelled, picking up the last handful of filth it had thrown down, and tossing it back up. "Come on, you haven't hit Lupin yet! Give it a try."

"I don't think so!" Teddy said, and ducked under both an aggressive branch and the return fire. "Come on down, now, you need to eat if you're to re-load." He waved a large lizard in the clabbert's direction, trying Roger's tactic. "Isn't this delicious-looking? Mmm-mm!"

"Why not take a bite of it for him, Lupin?" Donzo asked. "I mean, as long as you're putting on the pantomime anyway? He might not get the point otherwise."

"I think I should try to climb it," Corky said.

"You won't even get to the trunk," Teddy told him.

"We could grab one of these" - he ducked a swinging frond - "and take a swing for it."

Maurice rolled his eyes. "You and Lupin need to switch Houses, I think."

"Hey!" Teddy interjected.

"What?"

Donzo got to his feet, wiping the muck off his face and flinging it aside. "What we need is a plan. What does it want to do?"

"I think it wants to make a nest up there," Corky said. "They have a lot of these things down south in the States. When I saw them at the preserve... man, you _can't_ get them out of the trees."

"Thank you," Teddy said. "That's a very helpful observation. Should get us far."

"Don's right," Maurice said. "We ought to have a plan. We should toss it some of Hagrid's treacle tarts. That should weigh him down."

"Wouldn't that be against some animal cruelty law?" Corky asked.

"Good point."

"Could we stun it?" Donzo asked, but no one was enthusiastic about the idea, as they all rather liked the clabbert. Maurice suggested more lizards. Corky stuck stubbornly to trying to swing their way up. Teddy was coming around to that way of thinking when the vast crowd of first years emerged from the greenhouses. Two of them broke off and headed across the fluxweed patch, and Teddy recognized Victoire Weasley and Story Shacklebolt.

"Wow," Story said, when they got close enough to see, "this looks like a fun class." He set his books down on the ground and took up a spot beside Maurice. "What are we doing?"

"Trying to get the clabbert down."

"Hey, Victoire," Corky said, "got anything in your purse to turn _this_ into a bunny?"

Victoire was already digging around in her bag. "I don't know. We could smoke it down," she said, offering a Smoking Sardines. "But it would have to eat those. I have dungbombs."

"Toss us one," Donzo said. "Play it his way."

He lobbed the dungbomb up at the clabbert, but it just hit the Whomping Willow, which retaliated. Donzo jumped away.

Victoire pawed further down in her belongings, then suddenly smiled. "Portable Rainstorm!" she said. "Uncle George meant it to throw over someone having a snit." She leaned far back and lobbed something small and gray into the tree. A tiny rainstorm appeared over the clabbert, miniscule lightning arcing in a gray cloud. It ran for cover, but the storm followed it. Confused, it scrambled toward lower and lower branches, thinking it could get away, but the Portable Rainstorm was meant to follow its target. At last, it hit the ground, soaked and miserable. Teddy held out the lizard, just beyond the Willow's reach. It shuffled forward, looking like little Lily Potter, about to start crying from sheer sleepiness, insisting that she didn't need to go down for a baby nap. It took the lizard and started eating it like a chocolate bar.

"Righ' then," Hagrid said, coming down from his cabin with a lead and collar. Tinny and Roger were with him. Jane and Franklin had apparently had enough. "Good job. Now, who's for tea?"

No one was particularly hungry, which was perfect for tea at Hagrid's, so they all tromped down. Vivian was waiting there. She raised her wand and cleaned them off without comment. Teddy and Victoire had seen her closely before, but the others were all making a great effort to avoid looking at her scars.

"Yeh'll be joinin' us fer tea, then?" Hagrid asked her.

"Well, I seem to have missed the opening events in the beauty pageant, so I thought I'd come here instead, at least for a few minutes before I have to go."

Hagrid grinned. "Professor Longbottom comin' along soon?"

"I really don't know."

"Mm-hmm." Hagrid put out the tea, with enough cups for an extra person, and as it happened, Professor Longbottom did come along, charming the dirt out from under his fingernails as he walked. Teddy took a seat opposite the window. In the distance, he could see the uppermost branches of the Whomping Willow, waving at a passing post owl.

Roger Young was biting his lip anxiously, looking at Vivian's eye, and he finally said, "What _is_ that? I'm sorry to be rude, but I just... what is it?"

"It's just a magical eye," Vivian said. "To replace one I lost a long time ago. By the way, your ink bottle is leaking into your book bag."

Roger picked up his book bag and seemed very surprised to find that this was true. He checked his robes, then put his book bag in front of himself, blushing.

Vivian laughed. It was a strangely pretty sound. "I only see through what I decide to look through," she said. She went to the window, where the red light of late afternoon was streaming through. "Well, I... I just wanted to say hello." She smiled at Hagrid and Professor Longbottom, and waved to the students. "I'd best get going now. I have..." Her smile wavered, and Teddy realized that the moon was going to be full tonight. "I have work to do."

"I'll get you started," Professor Longbottom said, confusing Teddy utterly. He walked out with her, and Hagrid launched into an entertaining story about Buckbeak's adventures on the run with Sirius Black. Teddy was looking out the window during this, and wasn't surprised to see the branches of the Whomping Willow go suddenly still.

After Teddy finished his homework that night, he played with Checkmate for a little while, then rubbed her belly until she fell asleep. Once she was curled up and purring, he opened his trunk. In the top compartment was a sheet of yellowish parchment and an old ash wand. The wand had belonged to his father. The parchment was the Marauder's Map, a wonderful bit of magic that Remus Lupin and his friends, the Marauders, had created together at Hogwarts. He'd learned first year that having one of the maker's wands opened up new levels of magic in the Map, and over that summer, he and Uncle Harry had worked out a loose but permanent binding spell, as Dad's was the only one of the maker's wands to survive. Now, it would move with the Map, be passed down with the Map when it was time. It had been a wrench to decide on that, but Teddy thought Dad would like it, and he had Mum's wand for himself. He'd used it to etch Dad's name on the barrel of the ash wand, and the others' names at the base. Opposite Dad's name, he'd etched all four of their nicknames: Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs. (He'd asked Mr. Ollivander about this before doing it - it wouldn't help anyone if the wand changed its nature - and been assured that a little decoration had never hurt any wand.)

Now, he opened the map, tapped it with Dad's wand, and said, "I'm Teddy Lupin. Third year. Talk to me."

The Marauders hadn't been fond of orders, and had designed the Map to respond to them with insults. It didn't really matter what the order or the insult was - Teddy just made a habit of it to keep in touch with them. He read the four lines that swam up from the map, grinned, and left them alone. He leaned the Map against the side of his trunk, then pulled out a clean sheet of parchment and took Dad's ring from the chain around his neck. The Map had led him to the ring, which Dad had lost in the battle where he'd died. It was charmed with memories of the best parts of Dad's life, as well as a few of the best of Mum's. At first, it had been random, but slowly, he'd been learning to control it, to find the memories he wanted, to enjoy some of his own favorites over again. It was a question of concentrating, finding the path his mind wanted to follow. He thought about the branches of the Whomping Willow, and bent his energy toward the tree and the house at the end of it, the Shrieking Shack, hoping for an adventure with the Marauders.

He set the ring down in the center of the parchment and said, " _Cordis Patronum_."

The soft candlelight of his room blazed into bright summer sunlight, and he knew he hadn't found an adventure. He was in his father's mind, and he knew he was older now, that more had happened. James Potter and Sirius Black were dead, Peter Pettigrew was turned, Dumbledore was dead. There were rumors that the Ministry was about to fall, and they would need to get Harry out of Little Whinging before he came of age. But none of that mattered. Not here, not now. He was in his own garden, planting a rosebush, and it was a high summer day, and his wife was inside, trying to get a particularly stubborn floor in the spare bedroom to flatten itself out. He could see his wedding ring on his finger, reflecting the sunlight. He had been wearing it for just short of forty-eight hours. Teddy knew that within the next day or two, they'd be chased from the house, when the Ministry passed anti-werewolf legislation calling in all debts, repossessing everything Dad owned. Mum and Dad would destroy the Shrieking Shack again rather than give their hard work to the goblins. But for now, it was their home - bright and sunny, recovering from its ancient wounds. Everything was ahead of them. They'd talked about children. Dora had been picking out which rooms they would have, and had already decided that the room she was fixing would belong to their son, who would go through a teenage rebellion and paint it black. He would have sisters who would tease him unmercifully about it. She'd painted the word picture last night in bed (Teddy blushed at the thought of this, though Dad had been very, very careful not to put in any memories that would be disturbing in context), and he planned to draw it for her later, a gift...

The kitchen door opened, and Dora came out, her pink and black hair morphed long and braided. A floppy straw hat was on her head. She had two little clips with plastic flowers on them, and she was dusty from the housework. She looked like a goddess. And she was his wife. She came to him and took her hat off, dropping it onto his head. They laughed, and talked about nothing at all, lying back, side by side, looking up at the house they would share and grow old in. Teddy was aware of the dull anger that always seemed to live inside him when he thought about what had been taken from them - and from him - but from Dad, there was a simple, warm happiness, and Teddy did his best to feel that instead. It was a better feeling, and he wanted it. He stayed with the memory for the full half hour that the ring allowed, listening to his parents spinning tales to each other and feeling the warmth of a long vanished sun.

When the spell ended and he returned to his room, he felt calm and peaceful. He looked out the window at the full moon, and thought of Vivian again. Slughorn was brewing her Wolfsbane Potion, so she wouldn't do a lot of damage to herself, but Teddy had read a lot about lycanthropy, and he thought she'd probably still hurt in the morning. Mum - and before her, Sirius - had brewed an analgesic potion. It wasn't hard. Struck with inspiration, he pulled out his potion kit and cauldron, Conjured a small fire, and started in. He finished it around midnight, and set it to brew for four hours. He set a spell to wake himself up at four in the morning, and fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

When he woke up, he nearly forgot why he'd meant to get up so early, but Checkmate jumped on his chest and started licking his chin vigorously, bringing him fully up from his sleepy daze. He rubbed at the sensitive area that she'd been licking. It had a rougher feel than he was expecting, and he wondered if facial hair might not be imminent, but close examination in the mirror didn't reveal any suspicious shadows. He found a goblet in his trunk and poured the potion into it, then pulled on an autumn cloak and slipped downstairs and out of the castle. The sky was dark gray, and the moon was down.

He went to the Whomping Willow and sat on a rock just beyond the reach of the branches. The sky lightened, and just as it began to be threaded with brilliant orange, a hand appeared among the roots, groping for the knot that immobilized the tree.

The branches went still.

Vivian Waters pulled herself up. Her hair was tousled and fallen over the scarred half of her face, and she limped gingerly as she got to her feet. Teddy rushed forward and offered her his hand.

She blinked her good eye, and he realized she didn't have the other one in yet. "Teddy?" she said.

"Hi." He held out the goblet. "My mum used to brew this for my dad the morning after. For the aches."

She looked at him strangely.

"You can trust me," he said. "I'm good in Potions."

She took it and drank the potion down. "Thank you, Teddy. That was thoughtful. And it doesn't taste nearly as bad as Wolfsbane Potion."

Teddy smiled, and offered her his arm to lead her out from under the tree. "Did you really come to help with Greyback?" he asked. "If so... well, thank you."

"You're more than welcome. I want him put away." She winced as she tripped over a root. "Or put down." They got out from under the umbrella of the Willow, and she gave Teddy a tired smile. "Don't mind me. I'm only bitter and vengeful the morning after."

"It was bad, living with him, wasn't it?"

"With Greyback?" She shrugged, sitting down on the rock where Teddy had waited. "It wasn't as bad as you'd think on the surface. What Greyback did - he terrorized us sometimes, but not always. We enjoyed ourselves. But what he wanted was to break us. To re-make us. He thought we belonged to him. Anyone who stepped out of line got a reminder about who was alpha. When..." Her eye went cloudy, and she shook her head sharply. "It could get bad then."

"Did my dad step out of line when he was with you?"

She nodded, then suddenly smiled and stood up. Teddy turned.

Professor Longbottom was heading down from the greenhouses. He looked surprised. "Teddy. I wasn't expecting you to be here."

"Teddy brought me a painkiller potion," Vivian said.

"Good," Professor Longbottom said. "Well... they should be starting breakfast, if you're up to it."

"Oh, I definitely want to show my face in the Great Hall," Vivian said. "Allay the rumors about full moons as long as I can..."

Teddy walked up to the castle with them, a few steps behind, not really talking to them. He wondered what had happened to Dad when he'd crossed the line, and if Vivian might have told him. He somehow didn't think he'd find anything about Greyback saved on the wedding ring.

He was the first student at the Gryffindor table, though a few teachers were at the high table, sleepily gulping at coffee. Professor Vector from Teddy's Arithmancy class blinked owlishly at him and mumbled "Good morning." Vivian and Professor Longbottom sat together, and Hagrid came in to join them after a few minutes. Teddy felt deeply out of place until the doors opened and the Gryffindor Quidditch team came in, bleary-eyed, from a morning practice. Ruthless, her Beater's bat still trailing from her hand, sat down beside him. "All right," she said, "I _have_ to be up, thanks to Tiller." She glared at Naomi Tiller, the new captain. "What're _you_ doing here?"

Teddy shrugged and said, "Couldn't sleep." A bowl of melon appeared in front of him, and he reached for the salt just as Ruthless did. His hand brushed against hers, and he suddenly felt quite awake, though he couldn't quite explain why.

She drew back quickly, her face red. "Well, we had to go through our paces. It should be a good season, though."

More students started to come in, and the Great Hall started to look more normal. The morning's run of post owls arrived at eight, several of them carrying copies of the _Daily Prophet_. One stopped by Ruthless, and she shoved it, unopened, toward Teddy. "My dad actually thinks I'm going to start caring about Ministry politics if he sends me this. Do you want it?"

Teddy had finished his breakfast, so he took the paper and unrolled it. A headline screamed at him under a picture of the full moon: "WILTSHIRE MANSION INVADED: WEREWOLF ATTACK?"

Teddy sighed and read the article. It was the Malfoy home, but it had been empty. A reporter had interviewed Draco Malfoy by Floo in Wellington, where he said the family was taking a long holiday. "I trust," he said, "that the Aurors will give this matter their full attention before we return." The rest of the article was speculation about where Greyback's people were hiding, and an excoriation of Uncle Harry for not having already caught Greyback. Teddy was about to roll it back up again when he noticed a blurb, misspelled and clearly added quickly, saying that the Shrieking Shack was showing renewed signs of haunting. "The vicious wailing, unheard for decades, has returned to Britain's most haunted dwelling..." Teddy glanced up at Vivian, who was reading her copy with no expression. The daily Aurors arrived, Uncle Harry among them, and met briefly at the end of the high table before fanning out for guard duty. They looked very tired, but Uncle Harry made a point of coming to Teddy, batting the back of his head, and saying, "Don't forget to meet me at six."

Teddy nodded and smiled, glad he had a Patronus Charm lesson to look forward to tonight, not to mention just some time to talk to Uncle Harry. He moved on to Defense Against the Dark Arts for the morning, and there was no escape from the discussion of werewolves. Honoria brought up the (possible) attack, Corky wanted to know about curse scars, Brendan Lynch complained that they ought to be put down (losing Slytherin ten points, and getting himself hexed by Maurice Burke), and Jane Hunter wanted to know if Muggles could be infected. Teddy let Robards go about the business of answering the questions, though he could have answered most of them himself. It _was_ the year they were supposed to learn it. Brendan echoed the _Prophet_ 's sentiment that it was outrageous for a "half-trained idiot like Fenrir Greyback" to elude justice for so long.

Werewolves continued to haunt Teddy's day, through Herbology, Divination, lunch, and History of Magic. He did some of his homework at dinner, then went down to the entrance hall. Uncle Harry was waiting for him by the doors, smiling.

"Come on then," he said, and led the way out. A Red Cap scampered across the path, and he hexed it (mostly, as far as Teddy could tell, out of spite - they were finally starting to disappear on their own, and were only dangerous in packs). He went down the hill toward Hagrid's, and Teddy wondered if that was where they would have lessons, but he stopped halfway, at the Whomping Willow. He Summoned a stick and levitated it over to the knot among the roots, freezing the branches, then glanced over his shoulder and grinned. "Well," he said, "are you coming or not?"


	6. The Most Haunted Dwelling

**Chapter 6:**

 **The Most Haunted Dwelling**

Teddy went toward him and stopped beside the tunnel. Uncle Harry was blocking his way, smiling pleasantly. "Teddy, what am I waiting for?"

Teddy frowned. "No idea."

"I'm an adult," Uncle Harry said slowly. "I'm about to lead you off of school grounds, and away from most of their protections. An adult is out there, ready to kill you or maul and kidnap you. There is no reason at all to assume he has no access to Polyjuice Potion. What am I waiting for?"

"Oh, come on! You couldn't have got on the grounds if you didn't pass security."

"I'm glad you put such faith in my security systems, but less than impressed."

"Well, you wouldn't be stopping me for a quiz if you were trying to sneak me away."

"I wouldn't be stopping you for a quiz if you'd been careful in the first place."

Teddy rolled his eyes. "Fine. What language did Sirius write his security spells in, and what were they on?"

Uncle Harry grinned. "Now _that's_ a good security question - no way for someone else to have picked it up."

"So, what's the answer?"

"French, and the Marauder's Map."

"Well, I guess that means you're either Uncle Harry or Victoire, then. You didn't turn Ruthless Scrimgeour into a rabbit in the Great Hall, did you?"

"Er, no. That doesn't sound wise." He dropped down into the tunnel and started in; Teddy followed. "Victoire picked an interesting fight."

"I wish they'd get along with one another. It's very annoying."

"Mm," Uncle Harry said.

The tunnel narrowed and Uncle Harry was forced to crawl. Teddy was able to continue along, bent at the waist. He imagined making the crawl with the Marauders, James making crude jokes, high-spirited Sirius transforming into a dog to run ahead, Peter huffing and puffing at the back. Dad would already be ahead of course, waiting in the Shrieking Shack.

Teddy frowned. "Uncle Harry?"

"What?"

"Why isn't the house still boobytrapped? I thought the goblins had had it set up to tell them the second anyone showed up there since they foreclosed on Dad. That's what Granny said, anyway, and Professor Longbottom told me the same thing first year, so I wouldn't try to sneak out."

"I paid off the debt," Uncle Harry said. "Vivian needed somewhere to transform."

"Oh," Teddy said.

Uncle Harry came to a wider place at the end of the tunnel and paused, his hand on the ceiling, where Teddy could see a wooden trapdoor. He looked troubled. "Teddy, there's a reason I didn't pay it off before. It's... I know you think of it as your dad's place, but it's... Voldemort holed up here during the battle. He tortured people here. He murdered Snape in the room we're about to climb up into. I know you've wanted it back. But it's not... I didn't think..." He sighed. "A lot of bad things have happened here, Teddy."

Teddy straightened up and squeezed in beside him. "So why bring me here now?"

"Vivian and Neville - I mean, Professor Longbottom - reminded me that you have other associations with it. I decided that how you relate to this house ought to be your business, not mine." He unlatched the trapdoor. "And by the way, I bought it with gold from the Black vault, which I plan to give to you when you come of age - your granny wouldn't take the key, but I promised it to you when you were a baby, and mean to follow through, so don't argue - so as far as I'm concerned, you may consider it yours." He opened the door and pulled himself up, and a moment later, Teddy followed him inside.

He found himself in a ruined, dirty room, with scattered bits of broken furniture. He remembered - through Dad's ring - pacing through this room, waiting nervously for the sound of his friends coming up the tunnel. The light that burst through between the boards on the windows had the same peculiar quality of gold particles that it had in the memories - early evening, waiting for sunset. Teddy smiled and took a few steps in. His eyes were caught by something dark on the floor, an irregular, blackish brown shape. A long-dried bloodstain. Uncle Harry studiously avoided looking at it.

Teddy tried to figure out if it would be less disrespectful to pull the floorboards out and replace them, to cover it with a rug, or to just really work on cleaning spells. It did seem to suck everything else into itself.

But still, it was small. One way or another, it was just one small scar, no more important than Uncle Harry's now that the malevolent force behind it was gone. After all, more people had lain dead in the Great Hall - including Teddy's parents - and he ate there every day, and joked with his friends, maybe even while he was standing on the stones where they'd been.

Then again, he tried not to think about that.

He skirted the stain and moved toward the entrance hall. "May I look around a bit before we start?" he asked.

Uncle Harry nodded. "I'll wait in the kitchen."

Teddy stepped gingerly out of the ruined parlor, not looking at the blood stain again. The entrance hall was just beyond it. A broken chair was in the doorway. Stairs led up to the next floor. The wallpaper was shredded and the bars on the banister were splintered. A thick layer of dust lay over everything, though it had recently been disturbed - large paw prints looped back and forth, a pacing track, then a spot had been hollowed out under the coat pegs. He guessed that Vivian had slept there last night. It was an abandoned, hated place, but in his mind's eye, he could see it as it should have been, as it would have been _if_.

There would be a frayed but bright runner carpet on the floor, with scattered stains from sloshing potions and juice cups (Mum had never been good at householdy spells). The slanting wall beside the stairs, leading to the cupboard where they kept their winter cloaks, would be covered with photographs and Dad's drawings. There was Teddy, small and missing teeth, showing off his books, then he was with his brothers and sisters, all mugging for the camera at King's Cross. There was Mum, a picture from her promotion, when she first took on a student (Teddy mentally gave her Uncle Harry himself), and Dad sitting at the high table at Hogwarts, where Robards sat now, talking to Hagrid and Professor Longbottom and Vivian. There was a drawing of the Marauders, with their animal forms made from clouds above them, and another of Mum holding a baby while Teddy himself looked up with large eyes. He could see it so clearly it felt like he could touch it, and he reached out to do so.

It faded, leaving the dirty, torn wallpaper. Teddy touched the wall anyway, felt its reality. He felt someone looking, and turned to see Uncle Harry standing in the kitchen door, watching him curiously.

He went on, leaving Uncle Harry behind, moving up the stairs. At the top of the staircase was a door that led into a very small bedroom. Dad's desk - the one Mum had taken apart to make into Teddy's own crib - had once been in here. They'd have needed to get a new one. And bookshelves, lining the walls. Curtains for the window, which would look out over the back garden, where they'd planted rosebushes. Teddy was curious as to whether the one they'd actually planted was still there, but when he peeked out the window (one of the few unboarded ones), the garden was an overgrown mass of weeds, and if the rosebush was growing among them, he couldn't tell. He went on to the first of the three bedrooms that lined the upstairs corridor. Mum and Dad's had been the one in the middle. He opened the door. There was a large bed here, with dusty curtains. He looked at it and wondered if he'd started there, then wrinkled his nose and looked away, not wanting to contemplate that particular notion. An end table had been overturned in their haste to leave, and under it, he saw the corner of a book. He picked it up and brushed cobwebs from it. The cover showed a witch on board a ship, her robes pulled up to reveal a great length of her thigh, to which she had bound a hidden wand. She had a cloud of long, unruly red hair like Ruthless's, which fluttered in the sea breeze, a bit of it curling around her bosom. The title was _To the End of the Earth_ , and under it, it said, _The third part of the Trials of Tirza_. The fourth part had been scheduled to come out the next year, to be written by Fifi LaFolle. It looked like the rest of the Fifi LaFolle books in Mum's collection. Teddy pocketed it.

He moved on to the room at the end of the corridor. The floorboards here were warped badly; this had been the room Mum had been working on in the memory the ring had given him last night. The room that would have been his.

He went to the window and looked between the boards. He could see Hogsmeade's high street. A musician was playing at the Three Broomsticks. The ghost of Madam Rosmerta was drifting along, looking pleased. She glanced up directly at Teddy and waved. He waved back, then looked at the room, imagining it covered with his Muggles and Minions posters. There was a wardrobe in the corner, hanging half open. He reached out to open it all the way, to think about hanging his robes in it, maybe a cheerful pile of dirty ones hidden at the bottom because someone was coming over soon and there was no time to really clean.

But as soon as it swung open, he jumped back with a scream as something inside it began to snarl.

Teddy heard the harsh thump of Uncle Harry running up the stairs, but it was too late, he could see it was too late - the huge gray werewolf was already out of the wardrobe, white foam dripping from its jaws, its eyes obscenely intelligent. It was growling. The claws at the end of its forepaws were razor sharp...

The door burst open and it looked up, then there was a great pop and the wolf disappeared, replaced by a tall, black-cloaked figure, its face hidden deep in a hood, its white, scabbed hand dangling beside its knee. The air around him rattled.

Uncle Harry cried " _Riddikulus!_ " and the creepy, shroud-like robe suddenly turned into a bright pink hoop skirt with a thin shawl over its head. A lacy parasol appeared in one hand, and, from under the shawl, a pair of gigantic lips, painted red, made smacking noises.

Teddy laughed.

The creature blew into bits.

Uncle Harry raised an eyebrow. "Well, I wasn't actually planning to start with a boggart in the wardrobe, but I'll take it as a good sign."

Teddy shivered. "Try not to die at the end of it all, all right?"

Uncle Harry reached down to help him up, then put a hand on the back of his neck. "Come on downstairs."

"Should we have saved the boggart?" Teddy asked, following Uncle Harry down the stairs. "I saw in Dad's memories that he used a boggart for you."

"He saved a memory of my lessons for you?"

"You were mostly talking about Quidditch. He was really happy to be teaching you. He remembered reading to you." Teddy shrugged. "And you used to read to me, so it's all working so far, right?"

"Right." They reached the bottom of the stairs, and Uncle Harry led him into the kitchen, which was at the back of the house and had a door that led out to the back garden. This room hadn't been entirely destroyed - unless Voldemort had decided to do a bit of decorating while he was here - and it contained a single table and four chairs. The wallpaper was stained, but not ripped. Uncle Harry had banished the floor dust into a pile in the corner. The wooden counter was splintered and stained. A broken plate was in the sink at the base of a tent of cobwebs, and a mug full of rusty chopping knives sat on the stove. Uncle Harry looked around with vague interest, then turned back to Teddy. "A boggart wouldn't be much use in teaching you. Mine turns into a Dementor, because that's what I'm afraid of, and that happens to be something you can use a Patronus against. Your boggart is a werewolf. The Patronus doesn't have any effect on it. I'll teach you the way I taught the D.A. - but remember, it's a lot different when there's something coming after you."

Teddy bit his lip. "Why should my boggart be a werewolf? It was my mum's Patronus! And it was... well... Dad."

"If you weren't afraid of werewolves, you'd be crazy. And your dad would be the first to tell you that, so don't go there."

"But - "

"Trust me, Teddy, you would have been raised with a fear of werewolves. It would have been self-preservation." He sighed and sat down at the table. "Boggarts aren't just what they seem to be. My fear of Dementors is a fear of fear. A werewolf - aside from your obvious connections, of course - is about the dark side of things. A fear of what secrets there might be out there."

Teddy thought that might be reaching a bit. He sat down across from Uncle Harry. "So... Patronuses. How do they work?"

It didn't seem to be what Uncle Harry was expecting him to ask, but he recovered quickly. "Well, they're a projection of your good feelings, and they serve as a shield against Dementors and a few forms of Dark magic. That's the primary function. But we've discovered that they have other uses. Dumbledore discovered it, actually. The Patronus is distinct to the wizard who Conjures it because it contains a part of that person's essence. And because of that, it can serve as an emissary - er, a messenger." He winced. "This was easier when I just had a lot of people asking me what the incantation is and what they have to think about."

"Sorry." Teddy shrugged. "You're doing it just right. I think I get it. What's the incantation and what do I have to think about?"

"The incantation is _Expecto Patronum._ Try it." Teddy did; Uncle Harry nodded in approval. "The really important part, though, is to find a happy memory and concentrate on it. The most powerful happy memory you have."

Teddy wondered if it had to be one of his own. The happiest memory he had was one of Dad's, the one where his mother had let him fly a hawk, and the hawk had taken all of his troubles away and he felt completely free, just for a moment. Teddy was generally happy, and didn't have any particularly unhappy memories - the unhappiness in his life had happened before he _had_ memories - but nothing really stood out the way that had stood out to Dad. He supposed he'd been quite happy the first time James had recognized him when he came over, and had tripped over his own feet while running up and burbling, "Smy-Teh!" He nodded. "All right."

"You probably won't be able to do it the first time," Uncle Harry warned. "And I sort of hope you don't. I'd love to come up here with you a few more times."

"Well, you could always teach me other things. Or you could tell me all of those things you said you'd tell me when I got older."

"You're thirteen. You're not older yet." He stood up and raised his wand. "Let's try the Patronus. _Expecto Patronum_." A white stag leapt out of his wand and paced the kitchen. It stopped beside Teddy and dipped its head.

"It's Prongs!"

"It is."

"Do you think mine will be Moony?"

"No idea. Given your boggart, I don't think so, but then, you never know. Only one way to find out."

Teddy lifted his wand, imagined James running down the front hall grinning madly, and said, " _Expecto Patronum!_ "

His wand glowed a little, and a tiny silver cloud escaped it.

"You just need to concentrate," Uncle Harry said. "Try again. You're doing just fine."

They kept at the lesson for an hour, and by the end of it, Teddy could get a large silver cloud each time, but it hadn't taken any shape. He tried other memories - sitting with Granny watching a snowstorm, riding around Diagon Alley on Uncle Harry's shoulders while giant people smiled up at him, playing on the rope swing at Shell Cottage with Victoire and her sisters. Uncle Harry again assured him that he was doing very well, then led him back through the tunnel.

"I could have come back by myself," Teddy said, pulling himself up among the roots.

"Er, no. I don't want to hear the words 'by myself' from you until we catch Greyback. I've extended some protections through the tunnel, but I don't want you getting any ideas. Give me a promise that you will not abuse your house."

Teddy promised. They walked up toward the door, and while they waited for Professor Longbottom to come let them in, Teddy said, "Are you going home?"

"Yes."

"Tell James I'll write him a little story soon. I owe him one."

Uncle Harry smiled. "You were thinking of James?"

"James is cool."

"I happen to fully agree."

The door opened, and Professor Longbottom greeted them both. He sent Teddy upstairs - "You're getting close to curfew" - then the pair of them headed for his office. Teddy rather wished he could go along. Professor Longbottom's office was very comfortable and nice, and had its own weather system to take care of his plants.

But he went up to his room instead, and settled in for his homework. There wasn't much of it, and this early in the year, it wasn't very hard. When he'd finished, he started to change into his pajamas, but when he pulled his robe off, something thudded to the floor. He leaned over and found the old paperback from his parents' bedroom. The text on the faded back cover told him that it was the story of Tirza Malone, who'd started out as a detective tracking a gentlewizard jewel thief, but of course she'd ended up in love with him, but then his past had caught up with him, and they'd taken him down to prison in Australia at the end of the second book. Now she'd had to commandeer a pirate crew to get her down to help him. Teddy wondered why she didn't just Apparate a little bit at a time until she got there, but he guessed that wouldn't make much of a story. Mum had put a little bit of paper in toward the beginning. Curiously, Teddy opened to it.

 _relentlessly toward the Cape of Good Hope._

 _Tirza stood on the deck, her fiery curls tugged gently by the slipstream, caressing her scalp like Holt's gentle fingers. She imagined the ship as their marriage bed, gently creaking..._

Teddy winced, but kept reading, as he noticed the word "Fire!" set off by itself on the next page. The reminiscence finally ended after nearly three-quarters of a page, but then it turned into quite a good sea battle, between Tirza and her pirates, who all worked spells by themselves, and a strange bunch of hit-wizards who multiplied their spells like an army. Tirza finally got her ship away by maneuvering it up a river on the African coast, which the hit-wizards were unable to navigate. She waited for them to leave, but just as she was about to continue her search, a young Muggle boy from a village nearby came running for help.

He read two more chapters - Checkmate curling up on his lap and trying to bat it away from him - during which Tirza started to feel unfaithful to the missing Holt, because the handsome pirate lieutenant Brock was such a great comfort to her. The author seemed to favor this over the real plot, which was about an escaped nundu that was destroying villages, and Tirza had to figure out how to kill it without attracting the attention of the local authorities... quite a trick, since that particular beast had never been caught by fewer than a hundred trained wizards, but as the cover said Tirza had other things to do in the book, Teddy guessed she would figure out a way. He hoped she wouldn't decide she was in love with it and try to tame it or some such silliness.

His eyelids were drooping by the time he finished chapter three, so he stashed it on his end table, very glad that he had no roommates to see him reading an Enchanted Encounters novel. He didn't move Mum's bookmark; he just folded over the corner of his own page. He put out his lamp and went to sleep, and wasn't surprised to find himself on Tirza's ship. Of course, instead of just reminding him vaguely of Ruthless, Tirza had _become_ Ruthless, right down to the tawny, slightly upturned eyes. Teddy was himself, but Brock had hired him as a cabin boy, and he kept telling Ruthless that she shouldn't go off after Holt, as it was very dangerous. She waved her Beater's bat at him. "Do you think I can't rescue him? Do you think I'm some weak little girl?"

"No!" Teddy protested. "I think you're very strong."

"Then maybe you'd just rather I was rescuing _you!_ " Then her fingers had grabbed his shirt, and she was _kissing_ him, and it was like the wind and the sea, and everything else the book said (literally; she tasted like saltwater). He woke up before dawn, lit his lamp again, and continued to read.

Ruthless sat down across from Teddy as usual at breakfast the next morning, but he found it difficult to carry on the usual run of conversation, as he was wondering whether the bosoms she was hiding under her purposely-too-big robe were as big as the ones under Tirza's tight-fitting gown. He didn't think so - he'd sort of seen them at Trollsbane Tarn, when the t-shirt she'd been swimming in got wet and clingy - but they could have grown. There was no way to tell.

He knew she'd take her Beater's bat to him if she caught him looking at her, so he concentrated as much as he could on his porridge, stirring it into shapes that didn't entirely help the matter. He could feel his face getting hot anyway, so he started morphing, just to do it, and ended up with several first and second years asking him to morph their faces for them. He'd mostly avoided this since a Quidditch party during his first year, but was grateful for the distraction now. He looked up toward the door, where Ron Weasley was on guard today (Uncle Harry spent Thursdays and Fridays in the London office), watching him with some amusement. At some point, Victoire had come down to sit beside him, and she looked supremely bored, which was fair enough - she'd been watching him morph as long as she'd been alive, and it wasn't exactly a novelty. To his relief, Ruthless had gone on to her first class.

He avoided her for the rest of the day, staying away from the library and slipping in and out of meals as quickly as he could, glad she was a year ahead of him, and hoping very much that he wouldn't end up thinking of Tinny's bosoms next, or Laura Chapman's, or Jane Hunter's. That would be quite awkward in History of Magic or Herbology, though at least they weren't quite as likely to take a swing at him over it. He spent no time in the Common Room, and pretended not to hear Ruthless call over from the fireplace, where she'd landed the best spot, to see if he wanted to play cards. He did his homework quickly and went back to Tirza's world, where she and the pirates were all setting up a magical trap for the nundu, which would drive it into a deep pit. He wasn't sure what they meant to do with it once it got there. Maybe they'd send it to Azkaban, where it would certainly be securely kept. For some reason, in the midst of this, Brock the pirate was moping about, as he fancied a village witch who had never realized there were other magical people in the world, but thought he might really be in love with Tirza (he'd apparently forgotten that she was married to Holt, or maybe she hadn't told him). After five chapters, they managed to kill the nundu with poisoned meat after trapping it in a pit. Teddy thought this unfair; he liked the nundu by then, though he guessed they had to do something to stop it from destroying villages. He wondered if Hagrid would ever bring one to Care of Magical Creatures, and decided to suggest it as soon as he could. Brock decided he had to go on to help Tirza, and the witch he fancied decided to go along.

The night's dream involved Ruthless clambering around in the jungle, her dress sticking to her. Victoire was living in the village now, helping Brock's girlfriend, and looked very bored most of the time. Teddy wondered if he'd work his entire circle into the book before he was finished reading it.

He waited for breakfast until he guessed it would be crowded and ate among the crowd of first year boys, who seemed happy to have him. He finished quickly and started out of the Great Hall.

"Lupin!"

It was a boy's voice, so he turned. "Frankie."

Frankie looked at him oddly. "Is Greyback in the Hall somewhere, so you need to get away?"

"Er... no."

Frankie's mouth twisted in a little smile, and Teddy realized that he knew exactly what was going on. Looking back, he thought he might have seen Frankie ducking out of places quickly himself. Frankie laughed. "Come on," he said. "I'm headed down to Care of Magical Creatures. I'll walk you down to Herbology."

Teddy was glad of the company. They went out into the morning together.

"Are you going to come to the game tomorrow?" Frankie asked. "I've been thinking about one of the historical ones. We could do a game during the Blitz."

"Maurice will kill you - he's been storing up computer use points."

Frankie shrugged. "Oh, that's worked into the historical scenarios. Computer points in games before nineteen-eighty turn into code-breaking points. He'll be able to solve just about anything."

"Oh." Teddy walked along toward the greenhouses. "Frankie?"

"What?"

"Do you think Ruthless is... good looking?"

"Is _that_ who you're avoiding?"

"Do you think she'd kill me?"

Frankie laughed. "Oh, yes. No question about it. You're living dangerously, mate. And here I am thinking you're just worried about mad murderous werewolves. I should've known better. So are you going to come to the game, or do you intend to keep hiding from Scrimgeour?"

"I'll be there."

"Do you want me to work out a story where Wings and Bertha are trapped in a burnt out building somewhere? You could roll to kiss her."

Brass-Knuckles Bertha was Ruthless's character, and Teddy didn't think this a particularly good idea. His horror at it must have come out in his face, as Frankie started laughing again. They reached the branch in the path that Teddy would use to get to the greenhouses, and Frankie went on ahead, reminding Teddy to present himself tomorrow morning at breakfast. Teddy agreed and went on. He was the first person to get there for class, and Professor Longbottom asked him to help set up the new pots they'd be using for the Whistling Wallflowers they were meant to work with today.

He worked with Laura Chapman and Joe Palmer, pruning and potting, competing with Tinny and Roger to see how many pots they could finish, at least until Professor Longbottom took points away from both Houses for being careless. After that, they were more careful, and Teddy's plant started whistling a cheerful, seafaring sort of song. Teddy decided this would make a good story for James, so after classes, he went back to his room and made up a plot about a bunch of walking flowers that sailed around helping fish solve their problems (the fish - as in any story directed at James - had found a treasure, and didn't know what to do with it). He drew a quick fish, which looked terrible, and a flower with roots for legs and leaves for arms, which was even worse, and Charmed them both to leap around the parchment. He'd take it up to the Owlery to send it after the game tomorrow. Once he was finished, he picked up _To the End of the Earth_ again, and returned to the sea as they finally made it to the southern tip of Africa and made the turn toward the Indian Ocean. On the way, there were sharks, a strange sort of flying animal that Tirza didn't know, despite being an expert in Magical Creatures, and rumors of the evil hit-wizards, who did, in fact, show up just as they rounded the Cape of Good Hope. There was nowhere to go. So of course, Tirza decided to try to seduce the hit-wizard captain (though she swore she would remain faithful to Holt while she did it... though a "deep and secret part of her" wondered if it was really Brock to whom she was being faithful now, of course). Teddy decided it would be a good time to put the book away for the night.

The next morning, he stayed at breakfast, and Victoire and Ruthless crowded in on him. Victoire suggested that Ruthless could do something "cute" with her hair. Ruthless hit her with a Giggling Hex, and, giggling uncontrollably, Victoire tossed a bead full of Sunshine Solution at Ruthless, causing a burst of hot summer sun to shine on Ruthless's face. Ruthless left to get the antidote before she ended up with even more freckles, so it was just Victoire that Teddy walked down to the still life that protected Hufflepuff House. It swung open, and Frankie invited them in. He was dressed like a Muggle in the nineteen-forties.

"I reckoned I'd get some Transfiguration practice in while I was at it. Come on, everyone else is here except for Ruthless."

They went in, and the Hufflepuff players had definitely gone all out, finding things to Transfigure into Muggle gadgets from the 'forties, even putting up copies of the _Daily Prophet_ from the library. _BOMB BREACHES DIAGON ALLEY - GRINDELWALD SNITCHED TO GERMAN MUGGLES?_ and _HALF-WIZARDING VILLAGE UNDER COVER TO PLAY HOST TO MUGGLE CHILDREN AT REQUEST OF KING!_

"We'll start out during a bombing," Frankie said. "Get right into it. Donzo, you and Victoire and Maurice will be in a pub, celebrating her finishing up a new film. Teddy, you and Ruthless are in a church that gets bombed to rubble, you'll start in the cellar - "

Teddy's jaw dropped. "Frankie, I think..."

A candle on the table suddenly glowed bright blue, and Frankie said, "Aha, Ruthless is here. I charmed the floor outside to tell me." He went to the portrait hole and pushed it open. Ruthless came in, with much less sunlight, looking grave. She was holding today's copy of the _Daily Prophet._

"Teddy," she said. "I think you need to see this." She looked at Victoire. "You too, most likely."

Teddy and Victoire went over to her, and Teddy took the newspaper. Unlike the archival ones on the walls, this had no air of being from a different era. This was just today's news.

 _WILTSHIRE WEREWOLF ATTACK - MORE THAN A BREAK-IN by Rita Skeeter_

 _The Malfoy family may count itself lucky to be out of its Wiltshire Manor when it was attacked by werewolves Tuesday night, but their holiday was a curse for the nearby Overby family. Late Friday night, eight-year-old Neil Overby, barefoot and covered in blood, stumbled into the Leaky Cauldron in London, with a tale too horrible to contemplate. The eldest of four children born to Ellsworth and Farah Overby, he is now the sole survivor of his family._

 _"They were angry," Neil says. "The old man said that the Malfoys weren't around, so he'd take what they wanted some other way. Then they all turned into wolves! He bit me and dragged me away."_

 _Neil, of course, now bears the lycanthropic curse. Neil was held by Greyback's pack, but managed to slip away when they moved toward London. "He kept trying to make me hunt and eat raw meat, and saying he was my family now," he says._

 _Does he have anything else to say?_

 _Well, according to the proprietor of the Leaky Cauldron, the first words to come from the child's swollen and bloody lips were, "Where is Harry Potter?"_

 _Where, indeed?_

Teddy put the paper down and looked at Victoire, who was reading it silently, her face white as a cloud.


	7. The Whole Story

**Chapter 7:**

 **The Whole Story**

"Are you all right, Lupin?" Frankie asked. He'd stood up, and looked deeply serious.

Teddy nodded and handed him the newspaper. "Do you have any Floo powder? I need to call home."

Frankie waved his wand, and a covered casserole flew out from one of the burrows that led to the Hufflepuff dormitories. Teddy caught it, lit the Common Room fireplace, and tossed in a handful of the sparkling powder. "Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place."

He dropped to his knees and put his head into the green flames, which cinched tight around his neck. His head went spinning into the network, and came out in the cellar kitchen of Uncle Harry's house. Lily was in her high chair, picking at a bowl of cold porridge with her fingers. She clapped sloppily and said, "Teddy!"

Something clattered, and Aunt Ginny appeared in Teddy's field of view, her hair tied back with a scarf. "Teddy! What a surprise!"

"Is Uncle Harry there? I read the _Prophet_ this morning... I suppose he's at work..."

"He's about to go in - despite it being his day off - but he's still upstairs. I'll get him. I've been baking biscuits. Would you like some dough?"

"No, thanks."

She looked surprised, but went upstairs. He heard her call for Uncle Harry. A thunder of light footsteps beat Uncle Harry downstairs, and James and Al raced one another to the fireplace. James was carrying his squirming cat, Checkmate's littermate Martian.

"Hi, Teddy," James said, dropping down to sit. "I've got Martian to do a new trick. Would you like to see it?"

" _I_ got him to do a trick," Al said. "You just watched."

"I did not!"

Uncle Harry's shiny shoes appeared between them, then he crouched down. "Boys, let me have a word with Teddy alone."

"But - "

Uncle Harry gave James his impression of a stern look, then Aunt Ginny scooped them up and shooed them upstairs. She picked up Lily and followed, and Teddy heard the door shut behind them.

"I take it you saw what happened."

Teddy tried to nod, but ended up with a mouth full of ashes. He coughed. "I know you're working on catching Greyback. You shouldn't listen to Rita Skeeter."

"You called to tell me that?" Uncle Harry smiled. "Thank you. But I have long experience with Rita."

"What's going to happen to the little boy? Are James and Al and Lily staying inside? What about Victoire's sisters and Artie? Is Granny safe?"

"One at a time," Uncle Harry said, keeping his voice calm. "Neil is going to be all right. I can't tell you where he is on an open Floo line, but there are people who are glad to have him, and they'll look after him. James and Al and Lily are certainly staying inside - except for the courtyard - and they're quite annoyed about it, but I've put age lines at every exit, even the ones they think I don't know about."

"Did you get the vent in the back of Kreacher's cupboard? I promised I wouldn't tell, but - "

"I got it, Teddy."

"Good."

"Fleur has taken the younger children abroad for a few days - tell Victoire they're fine. And I'm checking on Andromeda every single day before I come home. I've tweaked the Apparition security so that she can Disapparate from inside if she needs to, though Apparition in is still blocked. All right?"

"Right." Teddy sighed. "What am I supposed to _do_? I feel like I should be doing something."

"You should be doing your homework, staying with your friends, playing that game of yours, whatever it is you want to do. We'll take care of it."

"But - "

Uncle Harry frowned. "I know you want to do something, Teddy, but there's nothing. We have people on the job. You just stay safe. Please."

Teddy agreed, feeling like there were a million things to say, unable to think of any of them. He said goodbye and pulled his head out of the fire.

Frankie asked if he should cancel the game, but as Teddy didn't have anything to do, he shrugged and suggested that they go ahead, though he wasn't very interested. He didn't bother with any adventurous rolls, and let Ruthless lead them out of their bombed out church. Victoire, fretting over Neil Overby, didn't bother responding in character at all. After, he walked back to Gryffindor with the girls, both of them quiet. He went to his room for the rest of the evening, skipping dinner, doing his homework, sealing up the story to send to James. He wished Uncle Harry would trust him with something - it wasn't like Uncle Harry, of all people, thought that a thirteen-year-old was useless.

He didn't light his lamp as the sun set. He just lay on his bed, his hands tucked behind his head and his elbows pointed out to the edges of his pillow. Checkmate padded up onto his chest and made a nest for herself and went to sleep purring, but he didn't pet her.

He didn't read, and his dreams, when he finally went to sleep, weren't of Ruthless or of Tirza swashbuckling her way to the Antipodes. Instead, he dreamed of Neil Overby, trapped among the werewolves, then Neil became Remus Lupin, small and scared. Teddy tried to reach out and snatch him away, but a hand fell on his shoulder, and he turned to find Vivian Waters, her face unscarred, her eyes intact. "Anyone who stepped out of line," she said, "got a reminder about who was alpha."

Teddy woke up in the thin light of dawn, not feeling rested. Dad had stepped out of line, Vivian had told him. And Greyback had given him a reminder. The sort of reminder he'd given the Overbys, and meant to give the Malfoys? The sort of thing he had in mind for Teddy himself?

He slipped into the library as soon as Madam Pince opened it, but he was already too late - apparently, yesterday's news had been quite the impetus to read. The entire shelf on werewolves was empty, and Madam Pince told him that even the books in the Restricted Section were gone, taken by older students in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Over the next two weeks, Teddy scrounged the newspaper every day, looking for anything he could find, hoping something would come to light for him that the Aurors were missing, trying to wrap his mind around who and what Greyback was. In his Patronus lessons for two Wednesdays, he was barely able to get a light mist, and Uncle Harry seemed distracted by the search as well. They had supper together both nights - sent by Aunt Ginny - and Teddy barely remembered what they talked about by the time he got back. Neil Overby continued to haunt him. The library continued to have a shortage of books. More than once, he overheard other students trading facts they'd found about Greyback the way they might trade Quidditch statistics. How many had he taken? Did you hear about that girl they found in 'seventy-eight? What did Voldemort use him for in the war? Did you hear what he did to the Muggle-born girls? Was it boys, too?

On the last Wednesday in September, he sat in the kitchen of the Shrieking Shack, across from Uncle Harry, staring at a savory pie Aunt Ginny had sent.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I can't seem to do it."

"I know, Teddy. I've seen you in school. What are you trying to find out about Greyback?"

"I don't know."

Uncle Harry nodded and poured himself a cup of tea. "I asked Vivian to come. She's a better source than anything Madam Pince is squirreling away. I hope you don't mind. There are things I might need to know about the time your dad spent with them - I thought you'd do well to hear them, too, though she says it's not all particularly cheerful."

"I can't believe I didn't think to ask her," Teddy said.

"I'm still not entirely sure you need to know all of it."

Teddy turned at the sound of the voice and saw Vivian coming up through the trapdoor, which they'd left open when they came in. She looked grim.

"I don't know if it will help you at all. But I suppose the whole story can never hurt. Except when it does," she said. She came into the kitchen, but didn't sit down. Instead, she went to the window and looked out at the waxing moon. "October is the Harvest Moon," she said. "At least here. I understand that the names are different in other places. Why do they name them? November is the Hunter's Moon. December is the Oak Moon. February is the Wolf Moon, believe it or not." She turned. "You know that Lupin rescued us. Lupin and Tonks and Bill and the rest. But he was with us for months. Greyback tried to break him. And succeeded."

Finally, she sat down, and told the tale. She'd been taken when she was three years old, her family killed just as Neil Overby's had been (though her father had been left alive as a werewolf, but abandoned). She'd forgotten her name by the time Dad had got there. The others had come around her - she'd asked for a friend, and the next thing she knew, a girl named Evelyn had come. "We still don't know who Evvie _is_ ," she said. "Greyback could have Conjured her from thin air for all we know. No one even reported her missing." Then had come Hamilton, a girl called Coral, and finally Nate Blondin, a Muggle-born boy whose name had come from a list stolen by Lucius Malfoy. Alderman had come a year before she did, and was thoroughly brainwashed by Greyback's ways at the time. "He says now that your dad saved his soul, just by being patient with him and putting up with his nonsense. Just showing him a different way to be a man - a way that wasn't Greyback's. A way that was _human_. It's what he did for all of us, and that's why Greyback will never forgive him. He taught us how to not be monsters most of the time." She sniffed. "Of course, Lupin, being Lupin, only thought about the times Greyback won that year. Greyback had to trick him to break him, and he only managed it twice, but it ate at him. He made it so hard on himself, and on poor Tonks, who had nothing to do with any of it. But they made it through, lucky for us." She smiled at Teddy.

"What do you mean, Greyback broke him twice?"

"Greyback knows how to control werewolves. He's done it his whole life. He tricked Lupin into eating part of a forest ranger he'd killed, then tried to trick him into killing me by - " She looked down. "By mistreating me while we were transformed. But Lupin got us here, and got me safely shut away."

"Shut away from - ?" Teddy stopped, not really wanting the answer that was forming in his mind. "Is there anything that can help find him?"

"We've looked all the places I know," she said. "But if he's starting to build a pack again, we'll need to look for the ways he breaks people - dead animals, even suspicious murders, though he's not nearly as stupid as he seems, so I imagine he'll look for people who won't be missed if he tries it. He's likely to keep moving, and they don't Apparate or use Floo powder, or even use much magic at all." She smiled rather horribly. "In fact, I stole Greyback's wand the night he tried to kill me. Ollivander was forced to make it. It has a hair from everyone in the pack. I think Ollivander was more annoyed at being forced to use an unorthodox core than with giving a wand to a murderer."

"But you still have it?" Teddy asked. "With... With Dad's hair in it?"

She nodded, and held out her wand. "Frankly," she said, raising an eyebrow, "I'm hoping Greyback gets to see it again before he dies."

There was no reason that Vivian's story should have eased Teddy's mind, nothing in it that should have led there, but as he pulled himself up the stairs to his room, he felt a weary sort of acceptance of Greyback and what he had done. All his life, he'd heard that his father had been nervous about getting married, had wanted the best for his mum but been convinced that she ought to look elsewhere, had even tried to bow out after they were married. Both Granny and Uncle Harry had made sure he knew those things before someone unkind could tell him in a less than understanding way. But what Greyback had done - making him try to hurt Vivian, making him eat a person... For the first time, Teddy didn't feel like _forgiving_ Dad for being a bit flaky around the edges, which was what Granny and Uncle Harry seemed to want. Instead, he felt a fierce sort of pride that Dad had come back at all, and that Mum had stuck by him. Teddy thought he'd probably be flaky around more than the edges if that had happened to _him_. He knew _why_ Mum had stayed, and decided that he would have stayed as well. It wouldn't have been fair not to.

Feeling a great wave of affection for Mum, he dug _To the End of the Earth_ out from the pile of homework it had got buried under for two weeks. If she was watching, he thought, maybe she'd get a chance to finish the story this way. He tipped the book up to the ceiling in a salute, then settled in to read about Tirza and her pirates battling the evil hit-wizards, Summoning a cyclone and using it to hurl their ship forward, working together to give it enough of a Hover Hex to fly for nearly three hundred miles and escape their pursuers. Teddy suspected that this wasn't actually possible, but it was a delightful way to end up at Port Elizabeth, with a strong wind blowing them east, toward where Holt was being held in some sort of horrible prison. He supposed she would eventually rescue him, then they'd sail off into the sunset and live happily ever after, maybe sailing with the pirates and a whole shipload of children, but he wanted to see how they'd get there.

After he'd finished two chapters, he put it aside and played with Checkmate for a bit, then did his homework. For Professor Firenze, he was tracking history along the paths of the stars, which all seemed very impersonal. Would any of it have changed if Dad hadn't gone to Greyback? Greyback had nothing to do with his parents' deaths. But maybe they could have had one more happy year together. Maybe Teddy would be a year older, or have an older brother or sister who he could read about Tirza's silly adventures with, and wonder what Mum and Dad had really been like with. He knew a lot - he'd made it his business to find out - but he didn't know where knowledge left off and imagination started.

Everyone except for Donzo was waiting outside classroom eleven before Divination the next morning, comparing one another's assignments.

Tinny looked at hers, then at Joe Palmer's. "Are you sure that's where Mars was during the Crimean War? I had it there during the Boxer Rebellion. With the Boer War going on as well..."

"But that's just the Muggle stuff," Joe said. "During the Crimean War, there was also all sorts of wizarding stuff going on, what with that mad Icelandic witch trying to put half the wizards on the island under the Imperius Curse. And there was another one in" - he checked his paper - "Tierra del Fuego. A wizard. He wanted to set up an all wizarding country in Antarctica, so he was going all out making Muggles stay away."

"Yes, but still, that wasn't so many people..."

Teddy checked both papers, a little concerned, as _he'd_ thought Mars would have taken on the solar aspect closer to the Great War. Of course, until he took lessons from Professor Firenze, he'd thought the sky just moved about once a year, but apparently, it was a much longer term.

Donzo ran up, out of breath, just as Professor Firenze opened the door, and didn't offer an explanation for his tardiness. The class went in, lay down on the luxurious grassy hillside, and looked up at the magically rendered twilit sky while their teacher scanned their assignments.

"You've done good work," he said.

Tinny sat up. "But we all had different answers!"

"The ways of the heavens are slow. What is a difference of seventy years in a universe where billions of years have passed and billions more will? Ephemera! You must learn to widen your view."

Maurice leaned over to Teddy and whispered, "If my view gets any wider, I'm going to fall off the world."

Roger raised his hand. "Professor Firenze?"

"Yes, Mr. Young?"

"If all of this goes over billions of years, then what did the stories say when we were all just plankton?"

"I beg your pardon?"

Roger shrugged. "You know - when evolution was just getting going, and there wasn't anyone really making any decisions about things for the stars to tell the story of?"

"Your terms are unfamiliar," Professor Firenze said, frowning.

"It's Muggle science," Jane said. "And _don't_ tell Geoffrey he doesn't know."

Geoffrey Phillips was a Muggle-born pill who always complained about how backward the wizarding world was in all things. Teddy wouldn't dream of giving him ammunition, but in this case, he did feel a bit stupid and slow as Jane, Roger, and Joe proceeded to explain the Muggle theory, and tell the class about animals called dinosaurs. Roger - who seemed to have an inordinate interest in them - kept saying that he was going to take his friends to a museum to see these things, but somehow, it had never happened.

Professor Firenze took it philosophically. "You mistake the teachings of the stars if you assume they are matters of choice alone. What a great conflict you describe, and such glorious beasts! Surely, Mars was bright then."

Roger grinned. "If all times are one time, maybe we could magically hop through and collect a dinosaur for the Forbidden Forest."

"Hagrid'd like that," Corky said.

"This is an unwise direction for conversation," Professor Firenze warned.

"Well, what about just Divining?" Tinny asked. "You said we might be able to read the past. Or maybe we could see what it would be like if they hadn't died. Scry it in a crystal ball or something."

The class generally agreed that this would be a fabulous idea, but Professor Firenze cut it off with an irritated swipe of his tail. "This is nonsense scrying. Perhaps Professor Trelawney would find such a plaything interesting. I do not."

Teddy didn't care about seeing a world with surviving dinosaurs - from the sound of it, there'd only be big lizards, and no people at all - but he did take notice of exactly what Professor Firenze said - "nonsense scrying" and "unwise direction." He didn't say it was _impossible._ After class, Teddy waited for the others to leave, then went to him.

"Professor?"

He turned. "Yes, Mr. Lupin?"

" _Is_ it possible to see different ways the present might be? I don't mean with dinosaurs."

"Please sit down, Mr. Lupin." Professor Firenze indicated a rock that was probably a desk when the classroom wasn't magically transformed, and Teddy sat on it. The Centaur frowned deeply. "You wish to see a world in which your parents, rather than dinosaurs, survived."

"Well - thirteen years. If seventy-five is ephemera, thirteen could hardly make a difference at all. If all times are one time, it's got to be close. I mean, if it's possible to see other presents." He shrugged. "I just fancy knowing what my brothers and sisters might have been like."

Professor Firenze took a deep breath, and sighed it out thoughtfully. "You have a mind for this, Teddy, and you ask wise, if dangerous, questions. There are those in your Ministry who study such things. I am not one of them, nor would I choose to be. What you speak of isn't Sybill Trelawney's fortune telling tripe, but a mystery of Time itself. Mysteries are rarely tame."

"I don't mean to _change_ anything, though..."

"Not at present." He cantered over to the window. "Within the Ministry, such studies lead to devices of great power. There was once a Mirror, here within the walls of the school, which your godfather could discuss with you."

"The Mirror of Erised? No, Uncle Harry said that didn't have truth. It just showed what he wanted most."

"And you don't find this to be a form of truth?" Professor Firenze shook his head. "The Mirror toyed with the mystery of Identity. You propose to toy in an even more volatile mystery. What good would it do to know what never can happen?" He looked back at Teddy. "I am sure you recall what happened to your friend Mr. Apcarne when he was swallowed by a mystery that was too large for him."

Teddy remembered. Frankie had got obsessed with finding the soul of one of his parents' friends, and Teddy'd ended up needing to pull him out of a battle with Red Caps and a raging Forest Fire. He started to protest that he only meant to scry, but he guessed that Professor Firenze wouldn't be impressed with the distinction. And he guessed that maybe there was a point. It wasn't like he'd ever be able to reach through the surface and meet the siblings he was quite sure he was meant to have, or get a scolding from Mum for being careless, or see his own father's excuse for looking stern.

It wasn't fair - not after everything they'd been through - but he knew what Uncle Harry would say: Accept. Learn to accept, Teddy, even when it's hard.

He felt oddly old for the rest of the day. It wasn't entirely unpleasant. That night, he went back to his room and opened the Marauder's Map, tapping it with Dad's wand. He knew how to make it insult him, but he thought he'd rather just talk to Dad. He frowned at it.

"I'm, er... well, Dad, I'm sorry it didn't all work out."

The Map did absolutely nothing.

Of course. The Map was full of high-spirited fun. It didn't know that all of its creators were dead, and lived in its own perpetual state of amusement with the world. Which actually sounded better than moping about. He watched the dots moving around the corridors. Filch and his cat, Master Norris, were in the dungeons. Professor Longbottom was talking to Vivian in his office. The Aurors on duty were posted at the door now that curfew had all the students inside.

Teddy smiled to himself and headed downstairs, thinking that a little jaunt around the school with the Marauders would be just about exactly what he wanted. He didn't have any particular goal in mind, but it occurred to him that he could even set up a prank. He hadn't really tried that yet.

"Teddy?"

He stopped by the portrait hole. Victoire was standing at the bottom of the girls' staircase, looking mutinous. She was wearing a dressing gown, but it was open, and showed a nightgown that had been Charmed with garish flashing lights, not Victoire's style at all. She closed the dressing gown. "My roommates thought it was funny," she said, then looked at the Map. "Is that the... you know?"

Teddy had enlisted her help with the Marauder's Map two years ago, but they hadn't had an occasion to use it since. "Yes. Do you want to learn to use it?"

She brightened and nodded.

"Do you have your little bag of tricks?"

She shifted something around, and he saw that it was slung over her shoulder. "It's my purse. I don't leave it behind."

"Excellent." He gestured to the portrait hole. "Ladies first!"

If she'd been Ruthless, this would have got him a punch to the arm, but Victoire just clambered happily through the hole, barely waiting for him to get through with the Map before heading off into the shadowy corridor.

Teddy coughed as the portrait hole closed, and gestured for Victoire to stop. She did, shifting from foot to foot. Teddy winked up at the Fat Lady, who conspicuously looked away, then went to join Victoire.

"Here." He pointed his wand at her nightgown. " _Finite incantatem._ " The flashing lights disappeared.

"Thanks."

"What did you do to end up glittering?"

"Nothing!" she said, drawing her eyebrows together. "I didn't do anything. I cleaned up, and I even made us a system to keep the whole dormitory neat, and give all of us the same amount of space."

"Oh," Teddy said.

She gave him a bruised sort of look. "You think I was wrong."

Teddy squirmed. "I think perhaps... well, you're not the eldest sister, they might..." He shrugged. "Well, maybe they were just trying to get you to lighten up. You ought to make their shoes sing Christmas carols or something in the morning."

"I don't have anything that does that."

"I think there's a Charm in the book Ron and Hermione gave me for Christmas. We'll try it before we go back."

"You don't think that would make them madder?"

"If it does, then they're not worth worrying about." He opened the Map. "Do you want to use your wand, or Dad's wand? Dad's makes it do a few different things."

"I'll use mine," Victoire said. "I think that only the person who's Map-master should use the maker's wand."

This struck Teddy as a nearly perfect rule, and he decided that, as soon as he figured out a good spell, he'd work it into the Keys to the Castle, which controlled the Map. Perhaps he'd even start his own list of spells, though he supposed he'd need a nickname if he was to be a proper Marauder. He imagined passing the Map on to James after school, and James adding his own spells, then the Map-master after James - maybe little Fred Weasley - adding more, and he thought the Marauders would like that. He grinned. "All right, then," he said. He handed her the Map. Dad's wand was magically tethered, but when it flew in her direction, she just tucked it into the pocket of her dressing gown. He indicated to open it, and waited until she'd raised her wand. "The incantation is, 'I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good.'"

She straightened her shoulders, tapped the Map with her wand, and said it. The spidery lines of writing appeared, the formal greeting to other magical mischief-makers. She smiled widely and lit her wand. "Does anyone else know about this?"

Teddy nodded. "Frankie. And I told Ruthless last year. But you're the only one who knows about the Keys to the Castle."

The castle began to appear, then the little moving dots that represented all the people in it. Victoire had seen this before, but she still looked delightedly surprised. "We're right here, Teddy!" she said, pointing to the two dots labeled "Ted Lupin" and "Victoire Weasley." She ran her finger back into Gryffindor Tower. "And there are all of my dormitory mates. Oh, Mabel's out of bed, by my bed - I'll have to check and make sure she hasn't hexed anything... And there's Ruthless, pacing around..."

"She does that a lot," Teddy said, and, unbidden, he imagined Ruthless in a short nightdress, wandlight playing over her face, pacing back and forth among her sleeping roommates.

Victoire bit her lip, started to say something, then shook her head. "Oh, look, Vivian is visiting Neville."

"Professor Longbottom," Teddy reminded her. "It's hard to remember if you don't do it all the time."

"Professor Longbottom," Victoire corrected herself. "So, what shall we do?"

"What do you have in your bag?"

She pulled her bag around in front of her and opened it, rooting around inside with a look of concentration. "Three or four dungbombs, a box of Canary Creams..." She fished under her wallet and a string of pictures of her sisters and brother came out, draping itself over the zipper. Aimee and Marie Weasley waved frantically at Teddy and Artie walked on his hands across the bottom of his. "...a bottle of U-No-Poo, I think I've got a Portable Salt-Marsh in here..."

Teddy shook his head in admiration. "Did George give you any Portable Daydreams? They're small enough that we could hide them in things."

She nodded enthusiastically. "He's made them into sprinkles, so you can have them with breakfast. I've been putting them on my porridge before History of Magic."

"I wonder if we could get them into the teachers' food..."

Victoire wrinkled her nose. "I like to have them for myself, thanks."

"Oh. Right." He shrugged. "Maybe something will come to mind. Let's have a look around."

"Oh, yes! Let's go see Nev - Professor Longbottom and Vivian. I think they _like_ each other."

"Er... I don't know..." Teddy contemplated this odd notion, then gratefully latched on to the obvious problem. "Vivian can see through walls. We oughtn't go there."

"Oh. Where _shall_ we go?"

"Have you ever been in the Great Hall when it's empty?"

She shook her head. "Is it empty now?" She flipped the Map up with great aplomb. "Nearly Headless Nick is in the entrance hall..."

"Nick never says anything."

"Madam Rosmerta's... in the kitchens, right, near Hufflepuff?"

Teddy came around behind her to look at the Map right side up. "Looks clear, other than Nick. Let's go." He waited for her to fold the Map, then, keeping to the shadows, led her downstairs.

Nearly Headless Nick saw them when they got to the entrance hall. "Ah," he said, "a bit of late night mischief?"

Teddy nodded. "Want to come along?"

"Alas, other business occupies me this evening. I am composing a petition to the Society For Redress of Ghostly Grievance, on behalf of the fair Madam Rosmerta, who feels she ought to have leave to haunt her own place of business. The dear lady has not been one of us long enough to know the twisting paths of Post-Mortal Justice."

"Why can't she haunt her pub?" Victoire asked.

"Her faithless son, to whom she left it, found it tiresome to be informed of his mistakes in operating it. She was therefore restricted to Hogwarts, where she crossed over, or merely High Street, in Hogsmeade."

"You seem fond of her," Victoire said eagerly. "Can ghosts get married? Perhaps the Fat Friar could help."

"There would be little point," Nick said delicately, and floated off, nose in the air.

Victoire deflated. "Oh, I think I've hurt his feelings."

"You'll get used to the ghosts," Teddy said, and shrugged. "They can be a little touchy. Have you met Myrtle yet?"

"No."

Teddy opened the door to the Great Hall, and led her inside. The candles were dark, but moonlight streamed through the windows and the enchanted ceiling showered everything in silver. "Come on," he said. "Let's go to the high table."

She giggled and followed him up to the table at the front of the room.

"Madam Headmistress?" Teddy said, and pulled out Sprout's chair.

"Oh, thank you, dear boy."

Teddy settled himself in the padded chair that Slughorn used. "Really, madam, I was just speaking to Ginny Potter, of the Holyhead Harpies, and she was telling me that Kirly Duke - you'd know him from the Weird Sisters - was meeting with Fifi LaFolle, who let me read the first copy of her new book..."

She laughed and spread the Map out on the table. "Let's see, who else is up... Madam Pince is in the library..."

"She's always there one night a week. I think that's when she Hexes up the new books."

"Mm. Oh, there's Hagrid coming out of his cabin. Why can't we see inside Hagrid's cabin?"

Teddy shrugged. "They liked him. I reckon they decided he ought to have some privacy."

"Oh, all right." She scanned further. "Oh, they're having a game or something in Hufflepuff. There's Frankie and Tinny and Roger and Bernice and Zachary, all down in their Common Room. They must play without us sometimes."

"It's a different thing," Teddy said. "Frankie says they never play Muggles and Minions without inviting everyone."

"Oh, then what are they doing?"

"I don't know. Hufflepuffs can be really secretive when they want to be. Maybe they're inventing a way to make ships fly off on cyclones."

"What?"

"Never mind."

"Oh, look! It's Donzo! Who's that he's with?"

Teddy looked up at the corner of the Map that showed Ravenclaw Tower. Donzo was headed down the stairs with a dot labeled "Melania Khetran," who Teddy thought was one of the second years who'd congregated in Ravenclaw the way his own year had tended to congregate in Hufflepuff. "They must be friends," he said. "Looks like they're headed down here. Come on, let's meet them."

Victoire got up and folded the Map - Teddy checked one last time to make sure no one else was headed down to the entrance hall - and they went between the long tables, their feet making soft slapping sounds on the stones. They reached the doors, and Teddy put his finger to his mouth; Donzo would probably be down by now, and not expecting anyone to be here.

He pushed the door open and let Victoire out, then looked up the stairs where he saw something that distracted him entirely from Marauding, from Victoire, even from the notion that Fenrir Greyback was out there somewhere and coming after him.

Halfway up, Donzo - his friend, from _his year_ \- was holding hands with a pretty, dark-haired girl. He was taller than she was, but when he took a step down, he looked back at her, and she kissed him.

Suddenly, the girl jumped, her hand to her heart. "Donnie, there's someone downstairs!"


	8. The Great Distraction

**Chapter 8:**

 **The Great Distraction**

Donzo blinked stupidly, and even in the dimness of the entrance hall, Teddy could tell he was blushing. "Lupin... what're you... er... why are you...?" Frantically, he took the girl's hand and turned her around, like he was presenting her on a stage. "Do you know Lani Khetran?"

Victoire hiccupped a laugh, and when Teddy turned to look at her, her hand was over her mouth.

Lani stepped forward aggressively, hands on her hips. "Do you have problem with my name?"

Victoire shook her head. "It's just... Lani and Donnie... it... _rhymes_ , sort of."

Lani's mouth twitched, then she laughed.

Donzo looked deeply uncomfortable. "What were you doing? Where were you going?"

"I suspect," a voice said from an adjoining corridor, "that you were all headed to the hospital wing, and one of you is so badly cursed that he or she needed three escorts to get there." Professor Longbottom stepped out into the dim light, Vivian a bit behind him, her mouth covered much as Victoire's was, her single good eye twinkling. Professor Longbottom raised his eyebrows. "No? Everyone seems in good health."

"We were just..." Teddy started, but couldn't finish. He looked to Donzo.

"Just, er..." He looked wildly at Lani.

"We were sneaking out," she said.

"Thank you, Miss Khetran," Professor Longbottom said. "For being honest, I'll only take five points from each of you." He rolled his eyes. "Go on back upstairs. Now."

Donzo and Lani ran quickly toward Ravenclaw, but as Teddy started up, he felt Professor Longbottom's hand on his arm. "What is it?"

"Teddy, you're safe enough inside, I think, but please don't sneak outside. The same goes for you, Victoire."

Teddy nodded, but Greyback seemed an extremely distant concern.

He walked Victoire back upstairs, quickly brought the Charms book Ron and Hermione had given him to the Common Room, and taught her how to make her roommates' shoes sing. He was not surprised to awaken the next morning to the sound of Celestina Warbeck's voice rising above the mixed laughter and irritation of the first year girls. To his relief, two of them seemed to be talking nicely to Victoire. She seemed to perk up a bit.

The loss of points from Ravenclaw and Gryffindor brought the evening's events to the attention of the entire third year, and Donzo's secret became the primary topic of conversation among the boys for the next week.

Maurice Burke pretended to be deeply insulted, as he was Donzo's best mate and hadn't known a thing. "She's probably just a groupie," he huffed after Divination one day. "He's probably embarrassed to be going out with a groupie."

There was much discussion of Lani's relative merits, and of Donzo's motivation for going out with her ("I _like_ her!" he said helplessly when pressed on the subject, though this somehow didn't seem like enough of an answer). This discussion inevitably led to the more disturbing topic of whether they all ought to get girlfriends now, and how such a thing was done, and which girls were particularly interesting. Teddy dropped Ruthless's name into a list of girls they were talking about, and the response to the idea of her as anyone's girlfriend was such great hilarity that he thought it might be wise not to mention her again.

Teddy found himself flipping back through _To The End of the Earth_ , re-reading the passages he'd skimmed, which dealt with love business, and particularly with kissing, as witches seemed to like this sort of thing, so he guessed it was what they'd expect. He was disappointed to find that it didn't actually explain how to kiss, except that stars were meant to explode and the sea was supposed to keep the rhythm, which sounded like something of a tall order.

From the depths of his fifth-year experience, Frankie Apcarne advised them that they oughtn't start going out until they found very special girls. He hadn't found such a girl himself, which was why he still didn't have a girlfriend. This was not a comforting line of reasoning. Zachary Templeton suggested that they ought to just take the plunge into the lake and get it over with.

"Are you lot going to?" Maurice asked them anxiously on the way to Care of Magical Creatures, after Donzo had gone ahead a bit to avoid being repeatedly called "Donnie" and having eyelashes batted at him. Maurice, looking deeply disturbed, said, "Brendan Lynch is going out with Honoria now. Since this morning. I heard him ask her in the Common Room."

This was met with general disgust. Tinny Gudgeon abruptly decided to run ahead and join Donzo.

"Franklin Driscoll asked Lizzie Richardson," Corky said. "But she said no. What do you do if they say no? Just pick another one?"

"Why'd she say no?" Teddy asked. "Franklin's a decent bloke!"

"I don't know," Corky said, mystified. "She didn't say. So are you going to ask anyone, Lupin?"

Teddy didn't answer. He was thinking that Ruthless's hands were sort of pretty, and he might like to hold one of them. "What about you, Roger?"

"Well," Roger Young said, "I didn't mention anything, but I have a Muggle girlfriend back at home."

"You do?" Teddy asked. "What's her name?"

Roger thought about it for a moment, then said, "Her name is Jillian. She has blond hair, and she likes science."

"Do you have a picture?" Corky asked.

"Er... no."

Corky shook his head, then took a deep breath and said, "Do any of you guys like Laura Chapman?"

They all looked at him, grave doubts growing in their minds, and the next morning, he was seen at the Hufflepuff table at breakfast, smiling fatuously at pretty Laura while she ate the world's smallest breakfast.

At his Patronus lesson that night, Teddy was able to get a steady white glow, almost solid, and Uncle Harry praised him for his progress.

"I know you don't think you're getting anywhere, but that's quite good," he said.

"Thanks." Teddy cast it again.

"You seem a bit distracted, though."

"Do you think I ought to have a girlfriend?"

"What?"

"Well, you know - Donzo's got one, and Corky's going out with Laura, and..."

"Already?" Uncle Harry shook his head and sat down. "Teddy, there are better reasons to have a girlfriend than that all of your mates are doing it. It's not a race. Is there a girl you like?"

"Well... yes," Teddy admitted.

Uncle Harry looked surprised. "I didn't know that."

"Did you have a girlfriend third year? How do you ask?"

"Well, I - " Uncle Harry frowned. "I didn't, entirely. I asked Parvati to go to a dance with me, but Cho just sort of... followed me around a bit. And that was _fifth_ year."

"What about Aunt Ginny?"

"I didn't so much ask Aunt Ginny as just kiss her - sixth year - and she got the point, but I don't recommend that unless you're really, really sure."

"I'm not."

Uncle Harry rubbed his scar absently and blinked, still looking a little stunned. "Teddy, has your granny talked to you about... girls?"

"About sex, you mean?" Teddy nodded. "When I was eight. Granny's a Healer. There were _diagrams_ involved. I know how it works. Also, I've read some of Mum's books. I'm not sure how to make stars explode."

Uncle Harry turned very red. "I don't think you need to worry about exploding stars just yet, Teddy."

Teddy nodded, tried another Patronus charm (he thought he was beginning to see a sort of hovering shape in it), then said, "I was thinking of asking... someone... to have lunch with me during Hogsmeade weekend. The first one is Saturday."

"I know. Andromeda and I had quite a long conversation about whether or not you should have your permission slip. I convinced her you'd be easier to keep an eye on if you were with your friends than if you snuck in on your own. And we will be keeping an eye on you, which might not make for a particularly private lunch." He started to say something else, then just sighed. "Let's have some supper, shall we? Aunt Ginny sent a stew."

The next morning, Tinny Gudgeon was spotted talking chummily to Roger's roommate, Joe Palmer.

In the library after lunch, Roger said that he might ask Lizzie Richardson to go to Hogsmeade with him, or perhaps Jane Hunter.

"What about Jillian?" Maurice asked snidely.

"Jillian broke up with me," Roger told them, after looking puzzled for a moment. "I had an owl from her."

"You had an owl from your Muggle girlfriend, and the Ministry wasn't all over you?"

"She... well, we were so close that she had special permission to know. Anyway, do you think I should ask Lizzie or Jane?"

Maurice walked away in disgust, and sat down by the rejected Franklin Driscoll. Teddy would have followed, but Roger was still looking at him anxiously.

He shrugged. "Er... flip a Knut, or something."

Roger seemed stunned by the wisdom of this advice, and began rooting through his book bag for loose gold.

By Friday, the day before the Hogsmeade visit, Roger had worked up the nerve to ask Jane Hunter, the Muggle-born Slytherin girl who'd helped him explain dinosaurs to Professor Firenze. He seemed surprised to discover that, once they started talking, he actually rather liked her. "Her mum's a physicist!" he said, astounded. "And Jane wants to find out how broomsticks fly. _I_ always wondered about that, too. I didn't know someone else did!"

Franklin Driscoll, who played Seeker on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, recovered from his rejection by Lizzie Richardson, asking his housemate, Connie Deverill. Lizzie, meanwhile, seemed to have got attached to a fourth-year boy. Maurice and Tinny were morally opposed to the whole business, and were going into town with Frankie. Frankie had asked Teddy to come along, but Teddy hadn't quite decided.

Or, rather, he'd decided what he _meant_ to do, but hadn't quite worked up the nerve. He thought perhaps lunch would be a good time, but it was very crowded, and Ruthless was talking Quidditch with her fellow Beater, Skipton Royce. He tried to call after her before she walked out, but it came out in a sort of breathy squeak. Victoire looked at him oddly, then with dawning horror.

By the time he'd finished his afternoon classes, there was no question of going to dinner. His stomach was twisting in very tight knots. He wished he'd never brought it up to himself, because now, if he didn't do it, he'd be a failure. He sat at his desk, taking deep breaths and letting Checkmate chew on the collar of his robes. He heard people start to come back in downstairs.

"All right," he said, and plucked Checkmate from his chest, setting her down on the desk, where she mewed plaintively. "You're Ruthless."

Checkmate didn't appear to care about her change in name, and continued crying, poking her nose up toward Teddy's shoulder. He put his hands firmly on her chest to keep her still, though he supposed that might not be the best approach with the real Ruthless.

"So... would you like to go into Hogsmeade with me tomorrow?"

Checkmate squirmed and lost her balance, then jumped down to the floor. A moment later, she was picking at his leg, begging to be picked back up. It didn't really seem like an answer.

He started to get up to go downstairs and wait for her, but sat back down. His blood all seemed to be rushing into his face, and it was making him dizzy. Miserably, he pulled the Marauder's Map out of his book bag and pointed Dad's wand at it. "It's Teddy," he said. "Tell me I'm an idiot, will you?"

James Potter's handwriting soaked up through the parchment: _Mr. Prongs is happy to oblige Mr. Lupin, and to add that he's a rather disappointing Gryffindor._

Sirius Black: _Mr. Padfoot greets Mr. Lupin, and defers to Mr. Moony in this matter, as that ought to be amusing._

Peter Pettigrew: _Mr. Wormtail wishes Mr. Lupin good luck, and wonders where he left his backbone._

"That's rich, from you," Teddy muttered.

Dad: _Mr. Moony salutes Mr. Lupin, who appears to have lost both his courage and his sanity._

"Hmmph. That's rich from you, too, as you married a girl with pink hair, _and_ she had to bully you into it." Teddy sighed, then prodded the Map with his wand and said, "Mr. Ted Lupin respectfully requests that the Marauders share their wisdom on the subject of Miss Ruth Scrimgeour."

No response.

"In that case, he requests the honor of learning your wisdom about girls."

Still no response. They had apparently not decided that this was among the subjects about which they would pass their knowledge to future magical mischief makers, even if they were asked politely.

"Oh, all right, then. Good night." He cleared the Map and re-folded it to return to his book bag. He thought about trying Dad's ring, but his parents hadn't precisely asked one another out, and he had a feeling they wouldn't have preserved memories of asking other people out for him.

He braced himself. He was the only Gryffindor in his year. He was _not_ going to be the only one to lose his nerve.

His knees shaking, he stood up, patted Checkmate on the head, and gulped. He could hear his heart beating, and he was quite sure everyone else would be able to as well, but when he descended into the Common Room, no one seemed to notice.

"Lupin!"

Teddy grabbed the edge of the mantel above the fireplace, his hand disappearing in the lush leaves of the Lionbloom that grew there. Ruthless was sitting on the floor, her Astronomy textbook open and a star-chart half-finished beside her. She was smiling perfectly normally, and said something that seemed to echo quite a lot.

"What?" he asked.

"I didn't see you at dinner," she said, with exaggerated care.

"I wasn't, er... well, I didn't... I wasn't... er..."

"Hungry?" Victoire suggested from a chair by the window, where she was sitting with her back turned.

"Right," Teddy said gratefully. "Hungry. I wasn't hungry."

"All right," Ruthless said. She looked at Victoire, who shrugged indifferently and went back to her book. Ruthless patted the floor across from her. "Do you have homework?"

"It's upstairs," Teddy said.

"Want some of mine? I was hoping to finish before Hogsmeade tomorrow, but they've really got it piled on."

"Will you... er..."

"What?"

"Will you finish it before curfew, do you think?"

Victoire snorted into her book.

Ruthless raised her wand casually and whispered, " _Sedesambulosa_." Victoire's chair suddenly scampered across the room, dumping her into a group of fifth year girls, who turned to glare at Ruthless. Victoire stood up, her face red, then grabbed her book and stormed up the girls' stairs.

Ruthless winced. "Didn't mean to dump her there. No one deserves _that_ lot."

"Mm-hmm," Teddy said.

"I should go apologize. And take any sweet she offers me, right?"

"Sure."

"And then I'll put on a jarvey costume and dance around in the Great Hall insulting the teachers."

"Right."

She waved her hand in front of his face and snapped her fingers. "Lupin?"

He blinked. "I didn't bring my homework to do."

"Do you want to go get it, or do you want to play cards?" She held out an Exploding Snap deck.

"Cards," Teddy said, though he couldn't remember the rules, and lost seven hands before she finally gave up and put them away. The older girls had gone upstairs, and the only other people left in the Common Room were a pair of seventh year boys trying to build some sort of gliding machine for their Muggle Studies N.E.W.T.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked.

"Nothing," Teddy said, and his voice went up half an octave.

"Are you sure?"

"Mm-hmm."

"This isn't about some madman coming after you or something?"

Teddy shook his head, trying to remember what exactly she was talking about, as it seemed important. He gulped. His heart was beating very quickly now, as well as being loud, and he couldn't really feel his fingertips, though he supposed that might be because the cards had exploded in his hands several times. "Er... Ruthless?"

"What?"

"Are you going to Hogsmeade tomorrow?"

"Yes."

"Do you... I mean... could you... would you... er... go with me?" He closed his eyes.

"I was thinking I would anyway," she said. "It's not like I'm about to roam around with my dormitory-mates, and it was dull going alone last year. Are you going in with Frankie and that lot?"

"No," Teddy said. "I thought... I mean, we'll see them... but I was thinking... maybe we could go to Hogsmeade together." He forced his eyes open just as Ruthless's tawny eyes went wide, and her skin went so red that her freckles disappeared.

"Oh!" she said. "Er... oh."

Teddy looked down at the carpet. "Oh. Sorry."

"What? No, I don't mean - " She shook her head. "Do you mean... go _with each other?_ Did one of your mates dare you to do this? Is it a joke?"

Teddy shook his head rapidly. "No! I just... well, we get on well enough, and you're very pretty, really, and..." He looked at her, and she just seemed dumbfounded, which wasn't an entirely positive response. He guessed he'd be hanging about with Frankie and Maurice and Tinny after all. He stood up, arms crossed over his chest, chin drooping toward the floor. "Sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have... we can just go in with Frankie. I won't be weird."

"You're always weird," Ruthless said, but it was automatic.

Teddy started back to the boys' stairs.

"Wait," Ruthless said and ran over to him. They were now behind a large outgrowth of the Lionbloom, hidden from the boys with their glider. She was chewing her lip. "I didn't say no," she said.

"You didn't?"

"Well... I never fancied being someone's girlfriend, but I reckon if I _did_ fancy it, I'd pick... well... I'll go to Hogsmeade with you."

"You will?"

She swallowed hard, then nodded firmly, her frizzy red hair bouncing and catching the firelight. "But... well, there need to be rules."

"Rules?" Teddy repeated.

Ruthless nodded, and he could hear her breathing in a quick, repetitive whistling sound. "Right. I don't fancy turning into some silly little girl who runs about fretting over her hairstyle and talking about her boyfriend. I'm not going to do that. If you're looking for that - "

"I'm not!" Teddy said, horrified.

"Well, good." She swallowed, then looked around the Lionbloom at the boys by their glider, who'd suddenly stopped talking. "Outside," she said, and walked quickly over to the portrait hole. She shut it behind them when they were outside, and started pacing, her arms folded over her chest. "First," she went on, "you're not to get googly-eyed on me. No staring, or talking about starlight and such. No poems."

Teddy nodded. In his first year, he'd found a love poem that his father had written to a girl when _he_ was in school, and even reading it had been profoundly embarrassing, so he definitely didn't have a problem with that rule.

Ruthless glared at him defiantly, as if she expected him to break the googly-rule straightaway. When he didn't, she nodded. "Second, there's a wretched tea shop in Hogsmeade where all of those fifth year girls go with their boyfriends. I really don't want to go there."

"Me, either!"

"Good. And no holding hands or kissing or such in front of people. They all _look_."

That was quite all right with Teddy as well.

"Just don't start treating me like some kind of... _girl_. As long as we're still Ruthless and Teddy, we'll be all right."

"Who else would we be?"

"Have you _seen_ Corky Atkinson over the last couple of days?"

Teddy had, and it was a sobering lesson. He didn't care to be caught feeding Ruthless a grape in the Great Hall. He agreed.

"All right, then," Ruthless said, and swallowed hard. Her pacing had carried her back to Teddy, and she was directly in front of him. He hadn't noticed that he'd got taller than she was. "Did you want to..." She breathed so rapidly that Teddy thought she might faint, then finished, "...kiss me or whatnot?"

"Is it allowed?"

She answered by swallowing another couple of quick breaths, then putting her hands on his shoulders, bouncing up on her toes, and bringing her face up at him like she meant to sucker-punch him with her nose. At the last minute, she tipped her head, then her lips pressed quickly against his. They were hot and dry, and a bit rough, and she came in at such a speed that they mashed his own lips back against his teeth. She was gone before he had a chance to do anything with his mouth, drawing back with her face considerably redder than her hair. Her eyes came up briefly, then she looked away and opened the portrait hole again. "I'll see you tomorrow morning, then," she said. "I'll... we could meet at breakfast. Just like always." She smiled somewhat madly, then went back inside.

Teddy wasn't entirely sure he could walk up the stairs to his dormitory. Or get through the portrait hole, for that matter. His whole body felt light-headed, like his brain had somehow turned into bits of dust and started to travel around to share the news with his toes and fingertips. He replayed the whole business in his head, from the feel of her strong, pretty hands on his shoulders to the way the torch-light looked in her hair, to the very brief feel of her lips mashing into his. Little sparks were spiraling up through him, traveling along his nerves toward his mouth like pilgrims wanting to get a look at a particularly wonderful relic. He imagined the sparks flying along, nodding to each other, "Yes, this is where Teddy Lupin was kissed. By a girl. Right on the mouth." They would stop and marvel at this for a moment, but then move on, as more sparks were coming along behind them to see what there was to see.

"Do you mean to go inside?" the Fat Lady asked.

"Hmm? Oh. Yes."

"Password?"

For a moment, Teddy's mind was completely blank, then he remembered, " _Vires Leonis_." The portrait swung open, and Teddy drifted in. One of the seventh year boys grinned and saluted him.

Teddy thought that saluting back would probably be against one of Ruthless's rules, but he couldn't help smiling. He went up to his room and lay down on his bed, not playing the moment in his head anymore, wondering instead when he could try again, maybe try doing something himself. Checkmate tucked herself into a neat ball at his feet. He fell asleep with the vibration of her purring against his toes. In his dreams, Ruthless didn't pull away from him nearly as fast, and he always had the right thing to say.

He was up long before breakfast the next morning, which was a good thing, as he couldn't seem to decide what he ought to wear, which was a problem he'd never had in his life. He guessed "clean" was probably the first rule, so he picked the jeans he'd only worn once since the last time the elves had taken his laundry, and mentally checked off most of the t-shirts. It hadn't been cold yet, so all of the jumpers were in more or less good shape. He put on the one Molly had made for him last Christmas - it was deep crimson with a few gold flecks - and was surprised to find that it had got tight across the chest and shoulders. He started to morph himself, then decided that he would expand the jumper instead. He overdid it and ended up looking like he was playing in one of Hagrid's shirts, so switched to the one Molly had made him for his birthday, which fit a little better. It was blue.

He waited until he heard the other Gryffindor boys moving down the stairs before he went out, and headed to breakfast without looking for Ruthless, which was good, as she was already there. She was wearing her glasses today. Her hair was tied up in a fluffy ponytail, and she was - to his complete shock - wearing a skirt. It was baggy denim and came halfway down her shins, but it _was_ a skirt. He couldn't see what sort of top she had on, because she had put on a huge cardigan. She smiled shakily and waved him over.

He sat down beside her. "I decided on the glasses," she said. "The Clear-Eye Concoction... I don't like the taste."

Neither one of them ate much before joining everyone else for the walk into Hogsmeade. Frankie looked at him with deep admiration; beside him, Maurice looked at him with deep disgust. Donzo was with them, as Lani was a second year and couldn't go to Hogsmeade.

"Are you to be protected from Fenrir Greyback?"

Teddy jumped back from the quill in his face. Honoria Higgs, wearing a checkered tam over a smart sort of dress, had a scroll out. Behind her, Brendan Lynch, to Teddy's utter bemusement, was wearing a tie that matched her tam, and looking highly uncomfortable. "What?"

"Are they making special arrangements to protect you from Greyback in Hogsmeade?" She pointed to the front of the line, where Uncle Harry and Ron were among the half-dozen Aurors in town for the day.

"It looks like it," Teddy said.

Honoria looked between Teddy and Ruthless avidly, then ground her teeth, apparently remembering that she wasn't meant to be reporting gossip, at least until she was back on the newspaper staff. She scurried off toward the Aurors, and a moment later, she was trying to get Uncle Harry to talk to her. Ron distracted her and steered her back into line. Brendan tagged along after her.

Teddy and Ruthless looked at each other, then moved moderately closer to each other than they were to other people, and started to walk along slowly. Ron stopped them at the school gate and tapped them with his wand several times. "It's a security spell," he said. "In case you need us quickly. All you need to do is raise your wand and call for help. The spell will do the rest. It's just until you've all learned to do Patronuses."

"That's new."

"Harry's had George working on it. He made one for children too small for wands as well. Rosie says it itches." Ron looked at Ruthless and grinned. "Well, Teddy, good luck."

They passed the gate, and went on into the village. The streets were crowded, and they had to shout to hear each other, which was actually helpful, as it seemed more like a normal day with Ruthless than like a date, though they couldn't decide what they wanted to do. The Hogsmeade branch of Weasleys, which nearly everyone still called Zonko's (George had given up and just called it "Weasleys' Zonks") was a zoo, as the owner, Verity Jordan, had got her husband Lee to broadcast his Wizarding Wireless show from the front porch. Ruthless, who had a Lee Jordan t-shirt and quoted him every time he lit into the Wizengamot, wanted to get his autograph, but abruptly changed her mind when she saw how long the line was.

"It's all right," Teddy assured her. "We can do that if it's what you want to do."

"It sort of isn't." She gave him an odd look, then said, "What do you want to do?"

They fought through Honeyduke's, coming out with rather large bags of sweets, and tried for lunch at the Hog's Head, but it was nearly as crowded as the Three Broomsticks, which they both thought was too much to bother with. Teddy wasn't entirely sure when he'd picked up on it, but he was fairly sure that she wanted to kiss again, and that meant finding somewhere that no one would see it, which wasn't particularly easy, given that most of the school was there, and Aurors were tracking anyone who broke away from the group to go toward the hills, or visit the road by the Shrieking Shack, which had apparently become popular again as people believed the haunting had recommenced. Teddy didn't want to show it to Ruthless. Talking about his house might be a little much.

They'd circled the village three times by noon, and were no longer pretending to look for a store or pub to go into. Ruthless poked her nose into an alley and turned back, her nose wrinkled. "Corky and Laura are back there."

"Oh."

"I think we should go back to school," Ruthless said. "Just have a nice walk."

Teddy nodded. The crowds thinned, and the Aurors would probably let them go back to the protection of Hogwarts easily enough. They started down High Street, slipping between their classmates, going past the seamstress shop that was the last business before the school road began. Several students were gathered, looking surly at having to waste their Hogsmeade day being measured for new clothes.

After the seamstress's, the crowd disappeared entirely. Anthony Goldstein kept the far edge of the Aurors' watch, and stopped them on the way. "Are you already leaving?"

"It's quite crowded," Teddy said. "We're just going back to school."

"Lots of homework," Ruthless added for good measure.

"Mm-hmm. I'll walk you to the gate."

There was no avoiding it. He called for another Auror to take his place at the edge of town, and then accompanied Teddy and Ruthless all the way to the great, hulking gate. He sent a Patronus in, but before anything happened, another one fell out of the sky, and formed itself into a stag. "Aurors to the village, missing students." Uncle Harry didn't sound particularly worried - it was most likely just a few who'd wandered off - but Goldstein frowned. "All right," he said. "Someone should be here in only a minute. Do _not_ leave the shadow of the gate." He did something with his wand, and Teddy guessed that the mention of the shadow wasn't just an admonition to stay close.

He passed the school's Apparition border and was gone, and then Ruthless grabbed the front of Teddy's sweater, and this time she left her lips on his long enough for him to move his around, though he had to take a guess as to which way to move them, and it hurt a bit when the cut on his lip from last night's kiss raked across his front teeth. He put his hands in her hair, and it was very warm and a lot softer than it looked. Her lips weren't dry today, but he was very aware that his were.

"Ow! My hair!"

Teddy let go. His finger had got tangled in her curls, and was tugging it tight against one of the clips near her ponytail. He extracted it as gently as he could. "Sorry!"

"It's all right. I should have left it loose." She pulled the band out of her hair and started picking at the clips, cursing it as colorfully as ever, and, although Teddy very much wanted to try kissing her again, to see if they could manage it without actually injuring each other, for a moment, it was just like Trollsbane Tarn again.

He smiled. "You cut my lip last night, you know." He turned up his upper lip to show her.

"Oh, charming." She laughed. "I think maybe we need to practice this."

"I think we should practice a lot."

She came at him again, and he braced himself for whatever novel way they'd manage to hurt each other this time, but something suddenly erupted from the tall grass just beyond the shadow of the gate. A ragged-looking woman emerged, and smiled at them around her sharpened teeth.


	9. Hunter's Moon

**Chapter 9:**

 **Hunter's Moon**

The woman began to laugh. "Lupin's boy. Aren't I lucky?"

Teddy didn't hesitate. He raised his wand and called, "Help!", hoping George's spell would work, or that whoever was coming to open the gate would get there soon.

Beside him, Ruthless yelled, " _Petrificus Totalis!_ "

The woman, still laughing, went down hard, and Teddy saw at the last minute that Ruthless was running out toward her, stepping out of the shadow of the gate, and as he reached futilely for her, the grass rustled and four more shapes rose from it, growling. He shot a hex at the nearest one and dashed out, grabbing Ruthless's arm. "Come on!" he said. "Under the shadow!"

She whipped her head around and saw the others and to Teddy's astonishment, raised her wand at them.

"Get BACK!" he said, tugging her wildly and physically throwing her back into the shadow. She got to her feet and glared at him, but before she could do much more than that, a man rushed at them. As soon as he hit the edge of the shadow, he howled in pain and drew back, his shoes smoking.

Behind Teddy, the gate opened and Professor Longbottom ran out, followed by Vivian, Hagrid, and Robards. At the same time, a series of pops announced the arrival of three Aurors. Uncle Harry grabbed the man who'd been injured and threw him aside, then ropes shot out, binding him. Ron took aim at another woman, and she was bound in ice. The last woman took a step back as Professor Longbottom came at her, then reached around her neck and threw something on the ground. As he raised his wand, she dove for it and disappeared.

"What the hell...?" Ron said.

"I don't know," Uncle Harry said. "I intend to find out. Williams, go back to town, you're in charge for the rest of the afternoon. Tell Anthony I want to see him."

The third Auror, an unpleasant man with long red hair, said, "You did send for all of us."

"I know. But he should have used his head. Teddy's a primary target."

Vivian was crouching beside the woman Ruthless had Petrified. "This is Mina," she said. "She led the escape."

Uncle Harry nodded. "Ron, why don't you give those two a long holiday in the North Sea. I think we'll have a chat with Mina here before she joins them. Hagrid, may we impose on your hospitality?"

Hagrid nodded, and Professor Robards Levitated Mina until she was upright, and prodded her through the gate. Teddy and Ruthless started to follow, but Uncle Harry put a hand on each of their shoulders and stopped them just inside the protection of the proper Hogwarts grounds.

"Teddy, there is someone out there who wants you dead. I don't know how to put it more clearly."

"We were inside the protection waiting for someone to open the gate," Teddy said.

"You're on a dirt road, and I can see your footprints."

Ruthless said, "I did it. Then Teddy grabbed me and threw me inside." The memory of it, apparently, was enough to earn Teddy another glare from her.

"Yeah? Good for Teddy." Uncle Harry shook his head. "That was careless, Scrimgeour."

"I'm armed, they weren't."

"In case you didn't notice at the end, they're using some kind of magic we don't know about."

"To run away!"

"And you had a nice long chat to know what else they've got up their sleeves?"

Ruthless stared at him mutinously. "I've heard about what you - "

"I've long learned to embrace my inner hypocrite," Uncle Harry said. "So don't even try it." He turned to Teddy. "And, you..." He shook his head. "I know pretty redheads are distracting, but I'd like to keep you alive to have another date. If you're not actually at Hogwarts, you'll be either with a huge crowd or with me. Is that perfectly clear?"

Teddy nodded.

He seemed about to say something else, then just blew through his front teeth and shook his head. A moment later, he headed down toward Hagrid's.

"I'm not _pretty_ ," Ruthless said. "And I don't need rescuing."

The sun was hitting her nose very prettily as she said it and Teddy felt a very strange desire to kiss it, but the bigger desire was to shake her until she figured out that Uncle Harry was right. She had no business just running out there. "You _did_ need rescuing, and if we'd stayed where we were, nothing would have happened. They'd have all just burnt their toes, then the Aurors would've been there."

"Hmmph."

"Also, you're pretty."

A look crossed her face, somewhere between pained and pleased. "All right. Sorry I ran out." She smiled. "Do you think we should go listen in on the one they caught, or would it be too dangerous for you?"

Teddy actually thought Uncle Harry would be disappointed if he didn't try, so he shrugged. "Come on. I don't suppose you've got an Extendable Ear with you?"

She didn't, but when they got to Hagrid's, the window was open (as Teddy had half expected). Through it, he could see Mina, bound to a chair. Vivian was pacing back and forth in front of her, and Uncle Harry was sitting at the table watching coldly. Teddy had never actually seen Uncle Harry look cold, and didn't think he ever wanted to again. Hagrid was making himself as scarce as possible, and Professors Robards and Longbottom had Conjured chairs for themselves rather than looking ridiculous sitting in Hagrid's oversized furniture.

A crate had been pushed up under the window - in Teddy's mind's eye, he could almost see Uncle Harry doing it himself. It was too small for both of them, and they sat back to back on it. Teddy put his hand behind him, and a moment later, he felt Ruthless take it.

"I'm going to break the spell now, Mina," Uncle Harry said.

Mina coughed loudly. "How do you know my name?"

"Well," Vivian said, "aside from it being tossed around at Azkaban, _I_ told him."

There was a pause, then Mina said, "YOU! You're meant to be dead. Greyback said he had Lupin kill you!"

"Have you ever noticed how stupid Greyback is?"

"Greyback's smart enough to still be alive, unlike Lupin," Mina said snidely. "And he'll come for me."

Ruthless squeezed Teddy's hand comfortingly.

Vivian laughed. It was a harsh, cruel sound that Teddy didn't associate with her at all. "Mina, he tossed you over to us like a broken toy. Who's he taken up with now? We all know _you're_ too old for him. I'm probably too old for him these days. Has he made someone new? Some pretty little thing barely out of school?"

"Shut up."

"So he has."

Mina didn't answer.

Professor Longbottom's voice came gently. "Here, Miss. A glass of water."

There was a pause, then Mina said, "That tastes funny."

"That's because it's laced with Veritaserum," Uncle Harry said. "It's meant to be tasteless, but I always taste it myself. A bit unpleasant. Now, what's the device your friend used to get away?"

"No name," Mina said contemptuously. "We don't need cute names for something useful. Don't really know how it works. She made a sort of charm that does it now, that we can carry around, but she means to make it so we can move without it. Right useful, it is. Been all over the place. In and out and all about. She makes all sorts of useful things."

"Who?" Robards asked.

"That girl... Greyback didn't bring her to us, she came on her own. The little tart. She's from _France_. Went to that school what they got there, and she must've been right good at it."

"In France?" Vivian repeated. "Mina, did you know the girl?"

"Never saw her before in my life."

"How old is she?"

"Seventeen."

"Vivian," Uncle Harry said, "we need to - "

"I need to go to France," she said. "See if Alderman knows anything about this."

"Which is exactly what I was going to say we ought to do."

"This is pack business," Vivian said, then Teddy heard the door open. He was about to suggest that he and Ruthless might find a place out of sight when Vivian stormed around the corner of Hagrid's hut, hands on her hips. She shook her head. "I saw you through the wall, you know," she said.

Teddy frowned. "Well..."

"Get back up to school. You know Harry will tell you anything it's your business to know."

She left without waiting to see if they'd follow her instructions. Teddy started to stand up, but then Uncle Harry spoke again.

"How much does Greyback know about Ted Lupin?"

"Everything," Mina said. "He always knew about Lupin's Little Red."

"Little Red?"

"Like the story," Mina said. "With the Big, Bad Wolf. Lupin tried to tell him lies about her, but he knew. Little Red, the Auror girl. That other bloke told Greyback she'd up and _married_ Lupin - "

"Other fellow?"

"The Dark Lord. The one you did away with. He told Greyback that Little Red had gone and taken one of his pack, and claimed him for her own. He even knew Lupin had managed to get her sprogged up. First Greyback thought he'd take care of it before the thing was born, then he thought he'd find out what it would be like. Maybe take it away from Lupin and Little Red and see how _they_ liked it. But the other bloke said he had more _important_ things to do. Never did give us anything, that one, even though he promised a lot. And then it was all over, and Greyback was in Azkaban. We went to Germany after that. Black Forest. Lots of werewolves there. Too many. So we decided to come back. Then you Aurors up and killed Stanfield, and I didn't much like any of the blokes who were coming up, so I thought it was time to get Greyback out. And he thought it was time to do something about Lupin's little leftover. We'd take care of Little Red, too, if she hadn't taken care of herself."

"Teddy, we should go," Ruthless whispered.

He shook his head.

"Harry!"

Professor Longbottom's voice was a sudden, sharp warning, and Teddy stood up, looking in the window. Uncle Harry's wand was raised at the chair where Mina was tied up, and Teddy didn't think he looked like a warning from an old friend was enough to stop him from using it. He'd heard of Uncle Harry's temper, but he'd never seen it, never really believed it was there. It was terrible.

Uncle Harry looked up and saw him. For a moment, their eyes locked, then Uncle Harry lowered his wand. "Mina," he said, "you are quite lucky the 'leftover' is around. Robards, I'm deputizing you. I imagine you remember the procedure for getting her to Azkaban?"

"Yes."

"Then get her there."

Robards started to bind Mina, and Uncle Harry came out the door. He came straight to Teddy. "I'm sorry you overheard that," he said.

"Vivian told us to leave and we didn't," Teddy said. "And Ruthless said to go as well."

"I expected you to be there. I didn't know what she'd say about Tonks. Come on. It's time to get back to the castle. I have work to do, and I'd rather know that you're safe inside today."

Victoire was making noises about walking down to dinner with Teddy and Ruthless that night - she'd been with them every second since they'd got back, and was disturbed by what had happened - but as Teddy suspected that Ruthless meant to take an indirect route to the Great Hall, he was trying to gently discourage it. Ruthless was looking like she was about to go for her wand when the portrait hole opened and Professor Longbottom came in. The first and second years all said hello to them, and he took a moment to be sociable, then checked the Lionbloom ostentatiously, then subtly turned to Teddy, Victoire, and Ruthless. "You three," he said. "A moment?"

He took them out into the corridor. "Ron just got back from Azkaban," he said. "They interviewed the others. Teddy is their focus, but Victoire, they are quite aware of you, and Ruth, I'm afraid the woman who got away will identify you as part of Teddy's circle."

"So what do we do about it?" Ruthless asked.

"As your teacher and Head of House, my job is to tell you that you're not to do anything. As a Gryffindor, I know you will anyway, so please keep it to what I tell you: Keep your eyes open. Watch. And go to an Auror if you see anything out of place."

"Has Vivian got back from France yet?" Teddy asked.

"No. I'm sure she'll tell you what she's found out when she does."

But she didn't come back that night, or on Sunday. Teddy made himself go back to his homework, of which there was quite a lot. Victoire was nervous and stuck close by. To Teddy's surprise, Ruthless's brother Kirk took to hanging about as well, until she chased him off with her Beater's bat. Teddy heard him protesting that if she was in trouble, it was his business as her brother to look after her. Her answer was not one Teddy thought he would repeat anywhere Granny would hear him.

Uncle Harry brought Teddy a letter from James at supper, containing a story he'd written about a flying ship, which was piloted by his cat, Martian. Checkmate, being Martian's sister, had been made first mate. They were looking for - of course - a treasure, which was on Mercury, and had to fight with something called a "sun dragon." James had given Checkmate the power to morph ("But only on Mercury, which is why she doesn't do it here"), and Martian wielded the sword of Gryffindor. Before they left, Checkmate assured Martian that all of the scary people after Teddy had been sent to Azkaban, and weren't allowed to have pudding ever again, which was why it was all right for the cats to leave. "Besides," she said, "our brother Bushy is still with Victoire, so he might look after Teddy if there is trouble." He had obviously spent a long time on it, and spell-checked it meticulously (Teddy knew he generally spelled Victoire's name wretchedly - it had ranged from Vitwa to Vikowa to, in one memorable case of unfortunate dictionary-checking, Viceroy), and he'd carefully made unrecognizable drawings in the margins. Teddy read it to Ruthless and Victoire, and Ruthless spent the rest of the day challenging Checkmate to duels.

By breakfast Monday morning, Vivian had returned, looking thoughtful, and the encounter with Mina seemed far away again (so did the encounter with Ruthless, which they hadn't been able to recreate with Kirk and Victoire about, and that was more pressing), and he wasn't thinking about it at all when the owls swooped in with the morning mail. One dropped a thin envelope in front of him, with careful, but still clumsy-looking, block letters addressed to "tED LUpiN."

"Did James write you another story?" Victoire asked, sorting her pile of letters from home into a neat stack.

"Too thin," Teddy said, but he was thinking it might be from Al and Lily. He certainly didn't expect the sheet of very thin parchment inside, which said only,

 _Is yor blod the same? I ramembir the tast._

For a few seconds, he couldn't make sense of the misspelled message, then he thrust it away from himself, startling the filthy owl that had brought it and spilling his orange juice.

Apparently, Fenrir Greyback had not spent a lot of time practicing his spelling or his penmanship.

"Ew!" Victoire had let her eyes wander to the letter he'd inadvertently shoved in her direction. "That's disgusting!"

Teddy, trying to keep his hand from shaking, picked it up again and moved it back. "Sorry," he said. "Didn't mean to throw it at you."

"Is that from - ?" She raised her eyebrows. "You have to tell," she said. "If that's from... him... you have to tell!"

"I know," Teddy hissed.

"Tell what?" Ruthless asked, looking up with a dangerous sort of mildness from her Transfiguration homework, which she was doing on Teddy's other side.

Teddy tipped the letter in her direction.

She narrowed her eyes at it. "Are the Aurors here yet? Where's your godfather? Are you going to write back? They could track the owl. I'll do that." She pulled out a fresh sheet of parchment from her bag.

"I doubt it's that easy," Teddy said.

"What's not?" Professor Longbottom said, coming down from the staff table. "Teddy?"

Teddy handed him the letter.

He went white. "I'll contact Harry right away," he said. "Teddy, you're out of Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures today. You're not to leave the castle. Victoire, I don't want to see your face in Herbology, either, while I'm at it. You too, Scrimgeour. You can all tend the Lionbloom for credit; it needs a bit of pruning." He frowned. "In fact, go up there straightaway. Whatever you have this morning can wait until Harry's had a look. Is this the owl?"

Teddy nodded.

Professor Longbottom picked up the owl and signaled to Vivian, who came down to join them. "Walk Teddy and the girls up to Gryffindor. I have a call to make."

He strode off toward the small room off to the side of the Great Hall, and Vivian led Teddy, Ruthless, and Victoire up to the portrait. Teddy gave the password, and it swung open on the empty Common Room.

Vivian stopped them from going in, and addressed the Fat Lady. "There's to be no one other than students allowed in, password or no," she said.

"Of course," the Fat Lady said.

Vivian nodded, and shooed them inside. Teddy caught a glimpse of her magical eye before it shut again.

Ruthless made a face. "He couldn't have sent it tomorrow? I have a Potions test that I wouldn't mind being forced to skip."

Victoire laughed, which seemed to surprise Ruthless. "Maybe he'll write every day."

"I'll be his pen pal, if it gets me out of Potions," Ruthless said. "Do either of you have any Herbology things here?"

"I have a pruning kit," Victoire said. "My mum gave it to me to take care of a little box garden she made for me." She ran up to get it.

Teddy was caught entirely by surprise when Ruthless kissed him, and didn't have time to put his hands in her hair or do any of the things that Fifi LaFolle said girls liked, but at least this time, they managed not to do any damage to each other. His lip had been a bit turned out when she caught it, and that seemed more pleasant. He thought perhaps next time, he'd try to be in charge of the kiss, if it was all right with Ruthless.

Victoire came down with a very well stocked Herbology kit a minute later, and they worked together on the Lionbloom, pruning back its leaves (which were dangling over the fireplace and starting to singe) and clearing out several fallen blossoms that had got tangled in the vine. Victoire asked if she might have the clippings to make mulch, but didn't take them up to her room. Instead, she sat down on the sofa and started to read the mail that had come to her at breakfast. Ruthless decided to study for Potions, on the chance that Greyback wouldn't give them an excuse to stay in the Tower again tomorrow, and Teddy took out the Marauder's Map to watch his friends in their classes.

"Oh, no!" Victoire suddenly exclaimed, sounding dismayed.

"What?"

"I saved Maman's letter for last," she said, slipping back into the French word she'd used as a small girl and had been trying, on the advice of Teddy's friends, to quit. "And she's... oh, it's just disturbing."

"What?" Ruthless asked, sounding vaguely interested.

"She's _pregnant_ again."

Ruthless winced. "What's the count?"

"This will bring it to six," Victoire said.

Teddy shook his head. Two years ago, Frankie's mum had got pregnant again, and he'd been the same way as Victoire was (of course, now that he had his little brother Mac, he acted as though it had been his idea all along to expand the family). It didn't make sense.

"Most of them are sisters, though, right?" Ruthless asked.

"All but Artie."

"Well, sisters aren't as big a pain as brothers. So I think having four brothers still makes my family a bigger pain, even though there are only five of us."

"How old is the youngest one?" Victoire asked.

"Four. It was me, then Kirk, then Keith, then the twins. I wish they'd stop it."

"You don't think they have?"

"When they hear that your mum's had a sixth, I'll bet they think, 'Well, if it's all right for the Weasleys, we ought to go ahead.'"

Irritated at what seemed the first congenial conversation that Victoire and Ruthless had had since summer, Teddy picked up the pruning shears and went back to the Lionbloom, trying to find any random extra growth he could, just to occupy himself while the girls bemoaned their huge, boisterous families. After a bit, they grew quiet again, but he'd found a nest of tangled vines to work through and didn't go back out. He heard Victoire go upstairs, and a few seconds later, a curtain of leaves moved and Ruthless came in.

She bit her lip. "Sorry, Teddy. I just realized what that must have sounded like. I can tell you that brothers are a right pain, but... well..." She shrugged awkwardly. "Sorry."

Teddy stopped working through the tangle. "It's all right. I reckon if I really had brothers, I'd think they were pains as well. I just sort of wish I had them."

"Do you want one of mine? I have spares." She smiled very prettily, and Teddy decided that he would be in charge of _this_ very kiss. He touched her cheek, then sort of leaned in, pushing his lips out and sort of sliding them around on hers. She drew away, laughing. "That tickles."

This wasn't what Teddy had been going for, but at least she wasn't bleeding. He lifted up the leaves, and found Victoire standing there, staring at them with her mouth open. He didn't notice her hand in her purse until the dungbomb flew at him.

He jumped back and let it splatter on the floor, then cleaned up with a flick of his wand. "What the - "

Victoire's mouth twitched and she made a hissing sort of sound, then stomped off toward the girls dormitories. Teddy started after her, but Ruthless put her hand on his arm. When he turned to her, she had an odd sort of expression on her face. "Let her be," she said. She turned back to the Lionbloom. "Let's get this untangled before Longbottom fails us for the day..."

Uncle Harry came back on Monday night, the letter from Greyback in hand, and called Teddy into the anteroom behind the Great Hall, where Ron, Vivian, Headmistress Sprout, and Professor Longbottom were waiting. "I thought you might enjoy burning it," he said. "We've got everything we're going to get from it."

Teddy took it, crumpled it, and threw it into the roaring fire. There was more than enough wood smoke to cover the reek of burning parchment. He watched it until it was completely gone.

"I'm going to keep you up to date," Uncle Harry said, Summoning over a chair for him. "You don't technically have any need to know everything, but this is one case where I don't think you can be over-informed. I suspect there are some members of the general public who might disagree, but I think they don't really need to know."

Teddy understood, and nodded. "Can't see why they would."

Ron fidgeted. "Maybe you ought to tell Victoire..."

"That's Teddy's call," Uncle Harry said, which wasn't entirely comforting, as Teddy had a feeling the morning's dungbomb wasn't the last he'd see from her. She'd been pouting all day, and when he'd tried to talk to her, she'd turned up her nose and refused to listen. But he guessed the adults wouldn't care about that. Uncle Harry took a seat on an overstuffed ottoman. "Vivian, what did you find out in France?"

Vivian leaned forward, planting her elbows on her knees. From where he was sitting, Teddy could only see the unmarked half of her face, the shadows of the firelight moving peacefully across it. "It's not really Hamilton's _fault_ ," she said.

"Hamilton?" Ron repeated.

She nodded. "He was one of us. One of Greyback's... pups. He was always quite bright. He learned French faster than any of us. He speaks it better than he speaks English now, honestly. And he was broke. We're all generally perpetually broke."

"I'm not really putting the pieces together, Vivian," Professor Longbottom said.

"Well, he wrote a book," she said, and winced. "For the gold. He wrote it in French. He was going to do an English translation this year, but he didn't really like what happened with the French version. It was... it was about growing up with Greyback. He meant it to be a frightening sort of story, with people who came and rescued us... well, the fictional us, anyway. But apparently the business before the rescue was more _vivid._ There's an underground group at Beauxbatons who want to help werewolves, and I guess some of them... took it the wrong way. They thought it was about werewolves being forced out of their natural habitat or whatnot."

Teddy sat forward. " _What?_ "

"And they think Greyback's a hero. They've got little buttons with his face on them, from the cover of the book. And one of them decided that she wanted to join the pack. She didn't know about us, but she _did_ know about the ones in the Black Forest, and Hamilton, like an idiot, had told how Greyback got himself cursed. So she set a trap for the woman Janice - the one who killed your granny's cat, Teddy."

"Oh."

"And she dropped out of school and got herself bit. That was last year. She's been quite a little terror on the continent since, except that she dropped out of sight in early August."

"When she found out Greyback escaped," Uncle Harry surmised. "Wonderful."

"I can't say for sure, but it certainly would fit. Madame Maxime said she was a talented student, and she'd particularly been studying magical transportation. She'd been working on charms to help children who didn't have any training get away in case of emergencies. It sounded a lot like the devices that Mina and the others had."

"Are they Portkeys?" Ron asked.

"I don't know. I don't think so. They're not timed, and people use them as they please. Mina said they were like the gate we used to escape, which means they lead to a sanctuary, but obviously, they're portable. I'd guess they have one point that they gather in, then can move out to where they need to be."

"Can they get through the Hogwarts protections?" the Headmistress asked, looking alarmed.

"If they could, they already would have," Vivian said. "They wouldn't have been outside the gate. But if that's what Greyback has her working on, he'll work her until she gets through or dies trying to. And until he gets what he wants out of her, you're not going to see her in one of his little traveling parties."

"Well, we'll have to find where they are," Ron said.

"It sounds like they could be anywhere." Uncle Harry shook his head. "I'm going to put a few more people on research. They might not be in the country. We should see if anyone else is having problems. Vivian, is there _anywhere_ you can think of? Do you think they'd stay in the Black Forest?"

"No. Mina seemed sincere about it being too crowded there. There've always been colonies in Transylvania, but they've been more subservient to the local vampires than Greyback will want. I doubt he has particularly fond memories of subservience."

There was more talk, but no one had any concrete ideas. Teddy wasn't particularly comforted. After the others left, Uncle Harry told him to keep the Marauder's Map on him and check it before he went wandering around on the grounds, which was somewhat more of a comfort, as it would certainly show quite a lot of strangers appearing out of nowhere. "And bring it to the Shack on Thursday for our lesson. The Keys to the Castle as well. I want to see if we can get it to be a more active help."

The moon was waxing toward its November fullness - the Hunter's Moon, according to the lists. Life went on. There were more energetic kisses from Ruthless, and an attack of Creepy Crawly Confections from Victoire, after which she seemed to think herself suitably avenged, and simply refused to speak to him. Teddy brewed the painkiller potion for Vivian again on Wednesday afternoon, though she said he didn't have to, and gave it to her before she disappeared for the evening. He watched her go, then headed back up to the castle with Professor Longbottom, who was unusually quiet. They parted ways at the corridor where his office was, and Teddy checked the time. It would be dark - and the moon would be up - for at least an hour before curfew. He checked the Marauder's Map and found that the Astronomy Tower was empty, as were the corridors leading to it. He climbed to the top of the castle, to the turret where Dumbledore had died and students had gone back to faking their way through star charts, and shut the door carefully behind him, locking it. He sat down on the stones and looked up at the moon.

"Hi, Dad," he said. "Are you watching?"

There was no answer. It was all right. Teddy lay back to look at the sky, letting his mind clear, enjoying the moonlight as well as he could knowing that Greyback would be hunting beneath it, and Vivian would be in pain. He pushed the thoughts away. The night was cold, a preview of winter, but it was refreshing. He let the icy breeze blow over his face. It smelled like the lake, the wood smoke from the chimneys, and the dying leaves in the Forbidden Forest.

He didn't know what he expected - or wanted - from this anymore. It was a ritual, a communion. This time, it didn't seem to be doing much. He couldn't feel Dad nearby, or Mum, or the Marauders.

He sighed and sat up. There wasn't much peace to be had.

"Oh, well. Shall we have a memory?" He looked up at the moon again, and pulled Dad's ring from its chain around his neck, settling it on a piece of parchment. "I could use a good one. _Cordis Patronum_."

The dark Scottish night swirled away, replaced by a gray sky. High above, Teddy could see a hawk circling, and he thought he might have been brought back again to Dad's memory of the hawk his mother had let him feed. But he could feel the body he was in, the different shape of it, the heavy center.

Something moved.

 _Inside of him._

He gasped - he'd stumbled onto one of Mum's memories, and it was while _he_ was still inside of her. He was feeling himself moving.

Mum lifted her hand and set it on her stomach, spreading her fingers out, looking down, away from the circling hawk. She felt calm, happy, perhaps a bit afraid. They'd heard from her dad that morning, and he was all right, but it hadn't taken much reading between the lines to know that he'd Seen something he didn't much like in his Scrying. He'd asked a few too many questions about how careful she was being. Still, he was all right. Dad/Remus had got back safely from another visit to Lee Jordan, and Granny/Mum had resigned her position at St. Mungo's rather than play along with Umbridge's obscene rules. They were safe here, in the protected bubble of the house. Granny's house. Mum was in the garden, sitting on the low stone wall. Teddy wanted to yell at her to stay there, but of course, it was no good.

"Dora?"

Teddy felt her head turn, then Dad came into her field of view.

He was wearing some old robes of Sirius's that Mum had scrounged from Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, and looked quite a bit neater than he usually did in the few glimpses Teddy'd actually had of him. He also seemed well-fed and content. He sat down on the wall beside her.

"He's moving," Mum said. "Do you want to feel?"

Dad nodded and put his hand on her stomach. Teddy again had the disorienting sensation of feeling himself move, kicking hard against the hand.

"I think he thinks I'm intruding," Dad said.

"He's just saying hello," Mum promised. "Are you still dead set against naming him after yourself?"

"I just think it would feel strange to yell, 'Remus, clean up your room!'"

"I suppose I can see that. What about a middle name? That would be perfectly traditional."

"If you really want to. What if the Scrying was wrong? What if it's a girl? Shall we call her Nymphadora?"

"She will be called Jane. Possibly Jane Ann."

Dad laughed and looked up at the sky. "Did you see the hawk? Did I ever tell you that my mum was a falconer?"

"No."

"What about Julia for a girl? Julia Dora?"

"Julia's fine. Why didn't you mention you'd like that?"

"You seemed set on Jane."

Mum smiled. "Jane's just a joke. Not that it's not a perfectly fine name. But I rather like Julia. Not with Dora, though. We could name her after both of her grandmothers. Julia Andromeda."

"All right. But the Scrying's probably right. I think that's a boy. What _do_ you want to name him?"

"Well, I've been thinking about that," Mum said. "Really. I had my Astronomy book out last night. We could give him a proper Black family name. I was thinking of Tarf or Muphrid."

"Sure you were."

"Oh, I was, though! We could recreate the whole star chart if we put our minds to it. Perhaps Tegmine. Or Procyon." Teddy could feel the corners of Mum's mouth twisting.

"I beg you in the name of our future children to burn your Astronomy textbook before you decide to name one of them Vindemiatrix."

Mum laughed again and curled up in the crook of Dad's arm, which was about as romantic as either of them had let the memories become (for which Teddy was infinitely grateful). She looked up to the sky again and watched the hawk flying high above them, and they chose names, dozens of them. None of the names was "Ted," as they'd expected at the time that Granddad would come home any day. Among the names, they spun stories together, the children who might go with names like Julia or Johnny or Raymond (the closest Dad would allow to naming after himself, as he'd used the name undercover once). Though Mum was joking about the star names, Teddy could feel them stirring in her mind. The ones she'd named were deliberately horrible, but, to her amusement, she really had marked normal-sounding star names like "Mira" and she positively loved "Orion," though she was hesitant about giving someone the name of Mad Auntie's husband.

"I love every single one of them," Dad said, and then the world faded around Teddy, and he was alone again on the Astronomy Tower at Hogwarts, bearing the name of the grandfather who'd disappeared so soon after that memory, with no Vindemiatrix in sight.

But it was Mum's sense of contentment that lingered at last, her happiness at her pregnancy, her love for Dad and for the baby she was pretending to name. Teddy cleared his things up and went back downstairs. He dreamed that night of siblings he might have had, and at breakfast, imagined them sitting among the crowd of first years. Julia might be over at the Ravenclaw table, bending over a diagram with the black-haired boy and his friend. Maybe Johnny would be with him in Gryffindor, joining Kirk Scrimgeour in utter embarrassment at the behavior of their older siblings, or maybe he'd be friends with Story Shacklebolt instead. Maybe Victoire could lob dungbombs in _his_ direction instead of in Teddy's. Teddy could sit with Ruthless as she complained about her crowd of brothers, matching her tale for tale with stories about how Raymond always managed to break things and Mira kept stealing his books. He wrote the names down, so he wouldn't forget them.

At six o'clock, he gathered up the Marauder's Map and the Keys to the Castle, and headed downstairs to meet Uncle Harry for his lesson.


	10. Enemies

**Chapter 10:**

 **Enemies**

"Hermione and Ron and I have been looking at Mad-Eye Moody's Foe Glass," Uncle Harry said as they made the laborious trek through the Willow tunnel. "Did I ever tell you about it?"

"That's the mirror that shows your enemies, right? And when you can see their faces, they're almost there?"

"Exactly. Neville found it in a root cellar - no idea how it got there - and gave it to Ron and me for the Auror department. It's mostly a curiosity, really. You can't very well carry it around with you. But it occurred to me that, if we could figure out how the magic worked, I could use it someplace more practical. Hermione's really been the one trying to break it down all year, though I haven't told her exactly what I had in mind. I'm sure she guesses, but the Map's yours." He reached the open space under the trapdoor and pulled himself up, then smiled down toward Teddy. "So of course, I'm planning to add a few spells to it and haven't even asked."

Teddy grabbed the floor of the Shrieking Shack and hauled himself up into the living room. "You're bound to it, too," he said. "You can use it."

"Well, you're the one who's going to be _using_ it," Uncle Harry said. "I'm just going to work a new little trick into it. The spells on the mirror work for whoever is possessing it, so I think I can only tie them to the bound part of the Map."

"Victoire says that only the map-master should be bound and use Dad's wand. I was going to try and write a spell for that. Do you think I shouldn't?"

"No, it makes sense. I don't know how many ties the Map can take; it may make sense to keep it severely limited." He indicated a chair. "Let's see what we can make of it."

Teddy opened the Map with Dad's wand, bringing up the Marauder's inside view, with their totems at the compass points. The castle spread out, the dots appeared. The first year dormitories all looked like beehives. He got out the Keys to the Castle next and opened it with the Map's incantation - "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good" - and lines of handwriting scrawled across it, too fast to read, swirling down into the parchment, hiding themselves, finally leaving five short lists. The original four were from the Marauders themselves, the initial spells that made the Map work. The fifth, added in the center of the left side of the page, was titled "Potter's Proddings," and really only included the spell that tethered Dad's wand to the Map so far. That had been Teddy's idea for a spell, but it had been done over the summer, so it was Uncle Harry's magical work. Teddy imagined that someday, he'd have his own section, if he could think of any good new tricks.

"What I want it to do," Uncle Harry said, tapping his father's list of spells, which included most of the magic that identified people, "is be able to recognize enemies of the... what did you say Victoire called it? The Map-Master?" He grinned. "I like it. It has a good Marauder-ring to it. Sounds like it ought to be in a pirate novel."

Teddy thought of Tirza's pirates in _To the End of the Earth_ and laughed, but didn't explain himself.

"Anyway," Uncle Harry went on, "I want it to recognize people who are dangerous to you, and not wait for you to go looking for them. I want it to point them out to you the minute you open it, if they're anywhere in striking distance." He went into his briefcase - an item Teddy knew was only a year old because he'd helped James and Al shop for it last year at Christmas, but which was already battered and covered with ink spills and crayon marks - and pulled out a folder full of papers, most covered with Hermione's tiny handwriting. "This is what she got analyzing the spells on the Foe Glass. It's quite complicated." He handed it to Teddy.

Complicated wasn't even a start. Teddy looked at the lines of Arithmancy equations and shook his head. "I'm still stuck on Professor Vector's Tension Proofs," he said. "I usually only get ninety percent or so on my Arithmancy homework."

Uncle Harry gave him an odd look. "Only ninety. Yes, you're clearly out of your league in this class. Nearly slow. I'm deeply ashamed. Especially since I never took Arithmancy at all, as it looked a bit too much like work." He grinned. "Don't worry, I don't follow the maths, either. But she boiled it down to some rather simple spells that will work as long as the charmed object is magical enough, and magically owned."

"What do you mean, magically owned?"

"I own my socks," Uncle Harry said, "but there's no special bond to them. If someone else steals my socks, they're not going to rebel. My wand, on the other hand, is allied to me, and the house belongs to me magically, which is why Kreacher had to obey me. Being bound to the Map is magical ownership."

Teddy laughed. "Don't tell James. He'll want to magically own everything."

Uncle Harry looked sheepish. "Too late. I bound him to that quill he uses all the time. Al tried to grab it. It wasn't pretty. So Al insisted that I bind his crayons, and Lily wanted a particular hair ribbon. Anyway... let's get to work."

Together, they bent over the Keys to the Castle. The last spell had been entirely Uncle Harry's magic, but he wanted to make sure Teddy started to contribute, so they came up with a very complicated sort of Charm that worked with Prongs's identity spells and Sirius's security spells, and ultimately even used a few of Dad's display spells. It would be part of opening the Map from then on in.

"So how do we test it?" Teddy asked when neither of them could think of a new way to tweak it.

"Do you have any enemies that are handy?"

"Other than Victoire?"

"What?" Uncle Harry said, losing interest in the Map for a moment.

Teddy shrugged. "She's been a bit keen to curse me since she caught me... well, you know. With Ruthless. I don't know why. It's not like I stopped being her friend or anything. I don't know why she thinks she needs to stop being mine."

"There weren't any... attack birds involved in this, were there?"

"What?"

"Never mind." He turned his attention back to the Marauder's Map. "Close it and re-open it, and we'll see just how badly you've managed to annoy her."

"Mischief managed," Teddy said, and waited for the Map to clear before saying, "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good." The Map reappeared. Teddy thought the totem animals looked a little irritated at the rush.

As soon as the dots appeared, Teddy could see that the spell had taken effect. A diffuse cloud of reddish ink appeared over the legend, and spread over the Map. It swirled over Slytherin House and paused over the dot labeled "Honoria Higgs," but moved on without leaving a trace, then swung up to Gryffindor Tower, where it moved around the first year dormitory, then followed Victoire's dot down the girls' stairs, through the Common Room, and up the boys' stairs, to where she stood outside Teddy's door. It left a faintly hazy mark around her, then dissipated entirely.

"Watch for Weasley pranks," Uncle Harry said. "I think it's safe to say it works. And that you and Victoire need to have a nice long talk."

Teddy made a face, morphing it exaggeratedly, then cleared the Map. They only had fifteen minutes to work on the Patronus, but he was definitely starting to see a shape now, something winged and powerful. He thought of Dad's hawk, and the one he'd found in Mum's memory last night, and was fairly sure of what it was going to be. He thought he might be able to do it now, but he didn't really want to end the lessons.

Once they'd finished, they went back to the school, and Uncle Harry made him check the Map again before they came up from under the Willow. There was no sign of Greyback, but it did remind Teddy to check his door carefully. He found that Victoire had put a line of Belching Bottle Rockets under his door, set to ignite when he opened it. He fished them out by their tails and left them in a basket at the base of the girls' stairs, then went to bed.

Teddy made a point of checking the Marauder's Map before he left his room each morning for the next few weeks. Victoire seemed to have taken the return of her bottle rockets as a peace offering, and the little red haze around her name disappeared, even though she still wasn't speaking to him any more than she had to. She picked a hex war with Story Shacklebolt instead, and, while her dormitory mates didn't seem to warm up to it, it won her the affection of most of the first year boys, who escalated it to an all out Gryffindor-Ravenclaw war, with Victoire and Story as the respective generals. As November wore on, students in both houses got used to their food doing odd things in the Great Hall, or their clothes suddenly changing colors for no apparent reason. It was entirely a first year phenomenon, using first year spells, so it was easy to fix and wasn't a great bother to anyone else. The teachers sometimes stepped in if things were too vicious, but mostly let the first years sort it out for themselves.

Since being caught, Ruthless had been a bit more circumspect about kissing, though she was certain that Kirk had figured it out, and she'd have to put up with teasing from her brothers the whole time she was at home. "Not to mention Dad," she said, shaking her head as they prowled an anonymous corridor, looking for someplace there was no chance of discovery. "That'll be a right adventure."

"Did you want to break up?" Teddy asked her, alarmed. He didn't feel they'd properly mastered the thing just yet, but it seemed like breaking up was going to happen next, as Lani Khetran had decided that she only wanted Donzo as a friend, and Roger and Jane had started yelling at one another about a book on the weather. Since Lani _didn't_ , in fact, become Donzo's friend and Jane and Roger cordially hated each other these days, Teddy had no desire to break up with Ruthless, who was one of his best friends.

She shook her head. "Not yet."

This wasn't comforting. "Can I make a rule?" he asked.

"Sure."

"If we break up, no stupid wars."

She nodded enthusiastically, then spotted an empty classroom, and the subject of breaking up was dropped in any case.

The next day, Laura Chapman was seen weeping in the Great Hall, and a confused Corky was snubbed by every girl in Hufflepuff. "She asked who I was going to go out with next," he said, shaking his head helplessly. "I said probably Nancy Simon. You know that fourth year in my House?" They all did. She seemed like a good choice to Teddy. "Then she started carrying on like I was trying to drown her in a sack! She said I was rude, and no English boy would have been so awful."

"I thought Canadians were meant to be nicer," Roger said.

"We are. Everyone knows that. Ask anyone what Canadians are like, and they'll tell you, we like hockey and we're nice. No one ever said the sun didn't set on the Empire because God didn't trust _Canadians_ after dark. Though Dad says that's just because He wasn't paying attention."

Out of consideration for Corky's plight, Frankie moved the next Muggles and Minions game to the library, then, when Madam Pince kicked them out, into the empty Divination classroom. Story and Victoire called a truce for the length of the game, as their characters had to work together or they wouldn't have enough points to defeat the terrorist cell that popped up on their film set (Story's character, Lucas Stevens, had become the director of the film that Victoire's character, Jayne Monroe, was in). Still, Teddy thought that Victoire might have slipped a few Weasley products into Story's book bag over lunch.

Frankie had needed to sneak Tinny out of Hufflepuff so Laura wouldn't know she was fraternizing with Corky, and she kept looking guiltily over her shoulder as the group made its way through yet another underground system, battling new sorts of Muggle criminals that Frankie had found in his constant quest. Tinny left ten minutes before everyone else, sneaking off to the library, where she was meant to have been studying all day.

On the way back to Gryffindor after the game, Ruthless insisted on a blood oath that she and Teddy wouldn't be such utter idiots. "A rule," she said, "isn't good enough."

Teddy had sliced his finger open before she even finished making the case for it.

The Patronus lessons continued, and Teddy was quite afraid that he wouldn't be able to keep it shapeless much longer. Uncle Harry seemed to sense this, and took some of the time to teach him other spells. The Patronus itself was definitely becoming a bird, and Teddy knew it would be a hawk, which rather spoiled the surprise.

Donzo began to complain about his upcoming Christmas concert. Teddy had long since stopped believing his complaints, as when Donzo wanted to stop doing something, he actually stopped. The complaints were a lead-in to a generalized invitation to his friends and their families - "Dad's running it from Weird World this year. That's the big house out in Sherwood Forest? Plenty to do, of course..."

Teddy listened to the others make plans and contact their parents and siblings, and didn't bother asking for himself. Donzo's father had already said no to the security Uncle Harry wanted if Teddy were to go to a concert last summer; it had to be even worse if it was his personal home. Or, rather, the band's home. Weird World, as Teddy understood it, was a private little amusement park that the Weird Sisters owned for their own recreation, and that of their guests. Donzo hadn't had time to go for the past two and half years, as he'd done all of the concerts and recordings in London and on tour during holidays, so he'd never been able to invite his friends before. Teddy thought it most unfair that _this_ was the year he'd be able to do it.

It was almost December before Teddy heard from Fenrir Greyback again.

He was at breakfast, chasing down a goblet of pumpkin juice that had suddenly sprouted blue and bronze wings and begun flapping about, when the morning's post owls flew in. He grabbed the goblet just before one of them upended it and took it back to the table. Ruthless took it and broke the spell, but before he could drink, a ragged looking brown owl dropped a clumsily wrapped package onto his plate. He recognized the clumsy block letters this time, and picked it up without saying a word. Uncle Harry was at the high table, talking to Headmistress Sprout. He saw Teddy approach, glanced down at the package, and gestured to Ron, who was keeping watch at the door.

"Come on," he said, nodding toward the antechamber where they'd burned the first note. "We'd best see what's in it. Teddy, you can go to class."

"I want to see."

Uncle Harry considered this carefully, then said, "All right, but Ron and I will open it first."

Headmistress Sprout joined them, and a moment later, Vivian came in, sounding out of breath. "Ne- Professor Longbottom said there was another note?"

Uncle Harry nodded. He set the package down on the table and did several spells over it. A shimmering orange net appeared in a half dome, enclosing it, then Uncle Harry said, " _Disamicio_."

The wrappings fell away. It was a plain cardboard box. They all looked at it for what seemed a very long time.

"Nothing's picking up on the Curse-catcher," Ron ventured.

"All right," Uncle Harry said. "Slowly, though. Remember the bubotuber pus - that wouldn't have picked up, either." He turned to Teddy. "Look away, Teddy. I have no idea what Greyback is sending. It may be something you don't want to see."

Teddy looked at his shoes as Uncle Harry and Ron leveled their wands at the box. A second later, he heard the sound of the cardboard ripping at its seams, then there was a loud spill of paper. A piece of it seesawed down into Teddy's field of vision. It was from a Muggle notebook, lined in sensible blue ink, with a torn frill at the side where it had been ripped from a spiral wire. It was ancient, and warped by dampness. It seemed to be covered in laborious multiplication problems. A few had been circled, and at the top of the page, someone had written, "You need to work on your threes."

Innocuous, except that it had been smeared from top to bottom with something dark and foul-smelling, running in streaks that were the shape of wide fingers.

Teddy looked up. The papers had spilled out under the Curse-catcher, at least thirty of them. Some had arithmetic on them, others seemed to just have writing. Most were drawings, done with Muggle pens. He saw a scarred child who must have been Vivian, a boy with a skull around his neck, a sullen girl with hair in dirty pigtails. All of them were Dad's; Teddy would have known the style anywhere, and even if he hadn't, why else would Greyback send them?

Each one had been defaced, most of the drawings in particularly hateful ways. A spotty yellow stain had seeped through the whole pile.

At the top of the slide of papers was another choppy note:

 _Fownd these at hom - gone now, Aurors, ha-ha - Blondin musta hid em. Thawt you should send em back to your Dad. I added wat I thawt._

Teddy crouched down and picked up one of the drawings, carefully keeping his fingers on a part of the page that was still white. This one showed a teenage boy with sharpened teeth and narrow eyes. His hair had been hacked off at the shoulders, and Dad had rendered it with jagged pen lines. He looked familiar.

"That was Alderman," Vivian said. "Before he learned to read, let alone went through seminary."

"And the others?" Teddy asked.

"Coral, Evvy, Blondin... I think it's likely all of us. Father Montgomery got us the notebooks. Your dad drew when he got bored, which I think was any time that Greyback wasn't actively tormenting him. Not much for someone like Lupin to do stuck out in the woods." She toed one of the maths pages. "He tried very hard to get us up to where we would need to be for Hogwarts, but we were quite far behind."

Teddy reached for a paragraph that someone had laboriously written out. It seemed to report the events of the first chapter of _The Hobbit._ Dad had corrected the spelling, and jotted, "What do you make of Bilbo's Tookishness?" in the margin. "Do you need these?" he asked Uncle Harry. "I mean, can you use" - he pointed at the stains - "to track him?"

"No," Uncle Harry said. "We have all we need to work with magically from what he left in the Overby house. He's not particularly careful about leaving behind bits of himself."

"Can they be cleaned?"

Uncle Harry crouched down beside him. "Teddy, this is _vile_. It's not a present. It was meant to hurt you."

"Dad's things won't hurt me," Teddy said. "If I could just clean it." He frowned and raised Mum's wand, not sure what spell to use to make sure the old paper wouldn't be damaged by the cleaning. _Evanesco_ might be too strong. He decided to try it on one of the maths papers first.

As he reached for one, the stain on the picture of Pere Alderman suddenly disappeared. He looked up to find Ron standing over him.

Ron shrugged. "Don't tell Hugo I told you this, but he used to have a bit of a problem at night. I asked Mum. Turns out she had a good spell for it. Never lost a sheet." He carefully prodded another one over, avoiding the stains. "The spell is _Abluo Clementis_. Pretty simple."

"But what if it cleans off the ink?" Teddy asked.

"Well, let's practice on some of the ones that are just doodles first then, shall we?" He nodded to Uncle Harry, who hunkered down with them, and a moment later, Vivian and Professor Sprout joined them as well. Teddy ruined one drawing of a forest stream, accidentally over-applying the spell and shredding the paper to nothing, and Uncle Harry singed the edges of a history timeline on his first try, but in the end, they got most of the filth off. Vivian asked Teddy if she could have the picture of herself - it showed her sitting on a rock beside a waterfall, laughing - and he agreed, but he kept the rest. He decided to put the classroom business in the box with the flotsam and jetsam he'd found with the Marauder's Map in his first year. The drawings would go on his wall.

He had other drawings of Dad's, but there was something he liked about reclaiming these particular ones. They weren't the best - or even especially good - but they'd been meant to hurt him, and it felt good to not let them.

Uncle Harry waited for the others to leave, then Conjured a cloth band to tie the papers together. "Are you all right, Teddy?"

"Fine."

"Are you sure?"

Teddy nodded.

Uncle Harry looked at him like he meant to say something - he'd always been uncomfortable with Teddy's collection for some reason - but ended up just taking a deep breath. "All right."

Teddy went back out to breakfast. Ruthless asked about the package and he showed her the drawings. She nodded politely and didn't rush him, but he could tell that she didn't find them interesting, so he finished quickly. She kissed his cheek and went to class. Across the table, Victoire was craning her neck to have a look. He nodded to her to come over, and she crawled under the table to come up on his side.

"They're like in your nursery," she said, leafing through them.

"Dad drew them."

"Like the you-know-what, too, then."

"Yeah." He showed her a few more. "Are we talking again?"

She shrugged. "Do you really especially like Ruth?"

"Sure."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I wish you liked her better, though. This is sort of a pain."

She wrinkled her nose. "All right. I'll like her if you want me to."

"That's the spirit," Teddy said.

Later that day, he saw her outside the greenhouses, dancing madly until she managed to get her shoes off. She threw them after Story, who was running back up toward the castle, laughing madly, and that evening, he saw her trying to sneak up toward Ravenclaw Tower. Groups of roaming Ravenclaws kept going by. He tapped her shoulder and shook his head, then went on by. The next morning, he went up to the Owlery and used a barn owl to send the Marauder's Map downstairs. Neither of them acknowledged it at the table. As soon as Story entered the Great Hall for lunch, his robes burst into scarlet and gold feathers. Victoire nodded somberly at Teddy as she passed him, bumping against his book bag, and he wasn't surprised to find the Map back inside of it.

On Thursday night, he tucked the drawings into his bag before he headed down to meet Uncle Harry for his Patronus lesson. They talked about the Greyback case on the way to the Shrieking Shack. There was no news, and there hadn't been any new attack. He was working with departments of Magical Law Enforcement in other countries.

"Take languages, Teddy," he said. "As many as you can. I've been chasing down translators at all hours. Anthony Goldstein's more than made up for a little lack of judgment - they've been having a werewolf problem outside Tel Aviv. His parents had him there the summer we were thirteen. I don't think there's a connection, but they've been trading information and I think we may have been able to help them out. Which doesn't help you much, but at least it's something."

"No, it's good," Teddy said. They'd reached the trapdoor, and he pulled himself up easily, but caught his toe on the edge and fell flat down before he could stand up. His nose was nearly in the blood stain. He really wanted to clean it, but he never seemed to get around to it. Maybe Molly Weasley's spell would work on it as well.

He went to the entrance hall and took the drawings out of his bag. The wallpaper was stained, but he thought he could clean it later. For now, he just put the drawings up, in the place where he'd imagined pictures of his family together here. He thought about naming the young werewolves the names Mum and Dad would have given his siblings, but they were real people and had their own names, so he supposed that would be weird. He left room in the midst of them for the photographs he'd managed to collect.

"Are you done?" Uncle Harry asked.

Teddy examined the wall. "I think so."

"Let's have dinner." He had set up the kitchen while Teddy was working, and served out Aunt Ginny's stew. He produced a loaf of fresh hot bread, and Teddy took one of the knives from the mug on the counter to slice it before they sat down across from one another, and Uncle Harry said, "There are three things I want to say to you tonight."

"You don't think I should have put the pictures up?"

"That wasn't one of them, actually. It's your house and your pictures. Is there some reason you think you shouldn't?"

"Well... I know you don't like it when I spend too much time in the past. Dwelling on dreams and whatnot."

"And are you?"

"No. I'm fine."

"All right then." Uncle Harry opened his briefcase and brought out a binder with a lot of heavy pages inside of it. On the cover was the seal of the Auror Department. "Do you know what this is?"

Teddy shook his head.

"This is a collection of defensive spells that we use at work. There are at least ten of them that I think you'd be able to do. Once we finish your Patronus, and teach it to talk, I think we'll move on to them. Keep up our lessons. Unless you're bored with them."

"No, not at all." Teddy looked eagerly at the book, wondering which ones Uncle Harry meant to give him. "What's the second thing?"

"I've had a long talk with Kirley Duke."

Teddy frowned. Kirley Duke was Donzo's father (neither of them was actually named "McCormack," though Donzo used it professionally and Kirley kept it visible, as it was his mother's name). "Why?"

"It seems he's invited all of Donzo's friends and their families out to their concert."

"I know," Teddy said. "I guessed it would be too hard."

Uncle Harry grinned. "Well, as it happens, it's pretty easy to secure Weird World. They already have good defenses, and no one is coming in for the concert other than their guests, and the American band that's performing with them. The Pondhoppers, I think. None of them seem to be spies for Greyback."

"Then I can... What about Granny? Will she let - ?"

"Andromeda has been invited as well, and has said quite frankly that if you don't want to go, she'll just have to go without you."

"I can really go, then?"

"Why do you think your friend asked his father to do the concert there?"

Teddy laughed, not from amusement but from sheer delight. "What's the third thing?"

"As long as you understand that we're going to keep up our lessons," Uncle Harry said, grinning, "will you please just _do_ the Patronus Charm? We both know you can."

Teddy pulled his wand out of his pocket and yelled, " _Expecto Patronum!_ "

From the tip of his wand, a white hawk exploded out, its feathers clear, its beak sharp, its eyes glowing. It flew around the kitchen, doing a loop around the floating candles, then circled down and landed on Teddy's outstretched arm. It dipped its beak to him and disappeared.

Uncle Harry smiled at him, then tucked into their supper. They spent the rest of the evening getting the kitchen cleaned up, Teddy periodically sending his Patronus soaring around, racing with Uncle Harry's, just for fun.


	11. The Weird Sisters

**Chapter 11:**

 **The Weird Sisters**

December went by in a rush of tests and planning. Teddy managed to annoy both Professor Trelawney and Professor Firenze by fortune-telling a happy Christmas for himself, but a bad Divination mark wasn't enough to spoil his mood. The rest of his marks were good enough to get on with. In the evenings, he did his Christmas shopping through catalogs; there was no way he'd be allowed to go to Diagon Alley this year. Most of it was easy - the usual story books for James and Al, a plush unicorn for Lily (who was taken with unicorns this year), a new quill set for Granny. He wanted something good for Uncle Harry this year, and was about to despair when he quite accidentally stumbled across a catalog that sold nondescript art for offices. He'd have skipped it entirely, but the cover showed a picture of a deer, with a hawk flying around in the sky above it.

Ruthless was nearly impossible - he felt he should get her something particularly nice in honor of going out, but Granny had written to him and advised him that anything resembling jewelry would be improper, and clothes were out of the question. He wasn't sure if that counted something like Quidditch gloves, but wanted to err on the side of caution. Books seemed predictable, as he got everyone books. Ruthless loved chocolate, but he had a feeling she wouldn't especially like a box of them, or consider them against the googly-eye rule. He finally settled on a wand holster with her initials etched into the leather. He could choose from about thirty designs to go with it, and picked a pair of lions. He imagined that she would like it. It looked like the sort of thing a tough duelist might have.

The upcoming trip to Weird World became the subject of nearly all conversations at Muggles and Minions games. Other than Frankie Apcarne, who Donzo deeply admired, the older students weren't going. They'd been invited, but seemed to realize it was a courtesy, and cited other plans. Ruthless was negotiating her space with Kirk, and dividing up duties regarding their younger brothers and parents. Victoire was writing frequently to Marie about what sorts of clothes to bring. Story, on the other hand, had been invited in good faith, but his parents had already accepted an invitation from dignitaries in the West Indies. They'd be back for the concert itself, but the days leading up to it were taken. Maurice was in an ecstasy of insecurity, as his parents and younger brother were going to appear. He'd been avoiding presenting the Burke family since first year. Corky's parents and sister had decided to stay home. Teddy had thought that Uncle Harry and his family might be there, but Aunt Ginny's brother Charlie had invited them to Romania until Christmas Day (which everyone would spend at Granny's this year). James wrote an excited letter about all the dragons he would see. Teddy was disappointed, but he supposed that he couldn't always expect Uncle Harry's family to be interchangeable with the others' parents and siblings.

Four days before Christmas, they piled into the thestral-drawn carriages again, but at Hogsmeade Station, instead of boarding the Hogwarts Express back to London, the group going to Weird World went to the Three Broomsticks, where Roland the innkeeper had cleared out the area in front of the fireplace. He handed Donzo a large tin of Floo powder with the Weird Sisters' logo on it.

"Came just this morning," Roland said. "Should be enough for all of you. Three times each."

Donzo took a deep breath. "All right," he said. "I'll go ahead so I can introduce you all. Just say Weird World. You should all get there all right. You'll know which grate it is because Dad's worked it into blue and bronze. On the far side. I'm not joking."

He tossed a handful into the fire and it went green, then he shouted, "Weird World!"

He disappeared into the flames. Maurice followed first, then Frankie. Ruthless was next in line, holding Teddy's hand, though when she let go, she seemed surprised to find that she'd been doing so. Her eyes popped open, then she grabbed a handful of Floo powder and nearly ran through the fire. Teddy followed her. He entered the strange, spinning world of the Floo network, watching the fires dancing by. He saw a ragged room where a couple lay in front of the fireplace, then they were gone, and there was an old woman eating soup, then a bunch of kids playing with a dog. Then he saw a flash of blue and bronze, and a grate ahead of him showed a bright, sunlit room. He leaned for it, then spilled unceremoniously out onto a marble floor. A pair of sofa cushions flew out and broke his fall, and he looked up to see Granny, smiling ruefully.

He let her hug him as the others came through, then pulled away. The room he found himself in was like something in a palace, with marble pillars and statues, high cathedral windows, and velvet draperies. It looked out onto an improbably sunny day, overlooking a pool in the shape of the Weird Sisters' logo. Among the statues, he could see mannequins dressed in the Sisters' most famous costumes - including the pink and purple dress of Kirley's that Teddy knew embarrassed Donzo greatly. Other parents and siblings were gathered around. Maurice was standing with a perfectly normal looking family who seemed to have been talking to Granny, and Ruthless and Kirk were buried in gibbering pile of redheads. Bill and Fleur Weasley, along with Marie, Aimee, Artie, and Muriel, were gathered together, watching the fire. Frankie had joined his parents, Maddie and Daffy, and his sister Carny. He'd already snatched up his baby brother Mac - short for McPherson - and started making faces at him.

Victoire came spinning out of the fireplace, her arms tucked neatly against her chest, her hair flying out in a silvery fan. Unfair.

No one came out after her.

From somewhere above a guitar chord rang out, and Donzo covered his face with his hands.

Kirley Duke came down a set of stairs, laughing. He was dressed in normal robes today, no pink and purple dress in sight. Teddy hadn't met him very often, and was still a little surprised by how average he looked - a little pudgy, with scraggly long hair and an uneven beard. Donzo had to take after his mother. Still, he was a good bloke, and when he said, "Welcome to Weird World," Teddy believed that he really was happy to see them.

"Nice entrance, Dad," Donzo said.

Kirley laughed and opened his arms as he reached the bottom of the stairs. "Come on, Don. I haven't embarrassed you nearly enough for a whole day."

Donzo grinned, then went to his father and hugged him, rolling his eyes. He let go as quickly as was decent, then turned to his guests. "The elves have lunch already, and then I'll show you around. There's plenty to do, and the weather's controlled."

They all followed him down to a cavernous kitchen, where the elves - all hired rather than owned, Kirley assured them - had a huge buffet table spread out. Teddy was content to sit with Granny, who had resumed her conversation with the Burkes. They appeared to be comparing notes to figure out how they were related, and in which directions. Maurice's father seemed to think there might be some Black family heirlooms in the shop in Knockturn Alley, and was trying to convince Granny to sue for them. Maurice's brother, a pinched-looking boy called Wendell, seemed to be trying to hide from the crowd behind their mother.

After lunch, Donzo took them on a tour of the grounds. The pool outside was weather-controlled to always have a perfect summer day, though beyond its bounds, they could see the drizzly December rain. On the deck, Orsino Thruston was doing a drum riff while a young woman with curly blond hair practiced dance moves. Teddy thought she was the new lead singer for the Pondhoppers, who changed their line-up frequently. Both of them waved.

There was a ski slope which Teddy thought looked like broken bones waiting to happen, a great hall to be used for any sort of game they liked. Bill Weasley produced a bag full of holidays in a box, a gift from George, which included clubs, a medieval village, a town in the American Old West, and a fanciful town on another planet, complete with aliens. Donzo had every game Teddy had ever seen, and a library almost the size of the one at Hogwarts (most of the Sisters had been Ravenclaws). There were recordings of performances, and pictures everywhere of the family and the performances. There were twenty bedrooms, which weren't enough for everyone to get a single one. Teddy ended up sharing his room with Corky, next door to Donzo's (he shared with Maurice). Donzo's door had a door knocker like the one at Ravenclaw Tower. Victoire shared a room with two of her three sisters; Muriel remained with Bill and Fleur, and Artie was desperately excited to be sharing a room with Ruthless's youngest brothers. Ruthless herself was wandering around at a loss, since they'd run out of girls, but Victoire looked at Teddy, winced, and invited Ruthless to join her with Aimee and Marie. Ruthless seemed just as disturbed by the concept, but went quietly.

They didn't stay in their rooms for long in any case; within half an hour, they were down in the kitchen again, whipping up a brand new game that was simple enough for the little ones, teaming up by family (Teddy and Corky teamed up with Donzo, as the three of them were by themselves). In some other Weird World, adults gathered in lounges and musicians rehearsed in sound-sealed rooms, but here, just for the evening, it was their world to make as they saw fit. Greyback hadn't seemed so far away since the night he'd escaped.

The Burkes ended up teaming with the Apcarnes, but neither that team nor Teddy's team of assorted singletons ended up a factor in the beanbag war Frankie had finally worked up. In the end, Teddy's team joined the Weasleys and the Burkes and Apcarnes joined the Scrimgeours to meet in an all out apocalypse that ended in a confusing pile that Teddy was fairly sure he'd won, though Ruthless begged to differ. Kirk suggested that they kiss and make up. Ruthless threatened to knock his teeth out, but it was too late, as the younger brothers had heard and were keen to find out what Kirk was talking about. Ruthless went so red that she looked like she had her Quidditch hood on backward, and stalked off to the room she was sharing with the Weasley girls.

Teddy smiled at her brothers in a way that felt slightly mad.

They rejoined their families before bed, along with the rest of the Weird Sisters and the Pondhoppers, and Teddy spent an hour with Granny, listening to her stories of autumn at St. Mungo's, treating Neil Overby, and meeting with a man who was trying to talk her into writing another book. This seemed to have taken several meetings, although Granny said she had no intention of writing again; the history she'd written of the Black family had got it entirely out of her system.

"So why keep meeting?"

"Free lunches," Granny said. "Also, I'm quite bored. I should ask James to forward your stories to me."

Teddy shook his head. "Oh, no. I don't think anyone other than James would like them. But if you ask, I'll bet James would write to you."

The Pondhoppers decided to do an impromptu Christmas sing-along then, which was an experience in a room full of musicians trying to outdo each other. Donzo ended up belting out a "Gloria" in "Angels We Have Heard on High" that lasted for an uncomfortable amount of time on one breath, and everyone applauded. Teddy headed up to bed a few minutes later, leaving Granny talking to Ellsworth Wintringham, the father of the Sisters' lute player, about something having to do with music in their youth. Granny had a high opinion of Muggle musicians of the era, mainly because Granddad had loved them so. Wintringham also liked Muggle music, but was devoted to some different style, and they seemed to be having a pleasant, wine-fueled argument about it.

Ruthless made an appearance in the corridor of guest rooms, grabbing Teddy and pushing him off toward a staircase. She kissed him, then said, "Well, if I'm to take Weasley's sisters demanding to know if I'm your girlfriend, I'll at least have the kisses to show for it!" After it, she'd stalked off angrily. Teddy shook his head, reminded himself that Mum had been patient with even weirder behavior, then went off to sleep.

The atmosphere was a bit different in the morning, as Donzo had already gone off to his morning rehearsals when everyone else got up, leaving a note that they'd be doing boring sound checks until eleven, so he hoped everyone would find something entertaining to do. Teddy bounced around among his friends, talked with Granny, and finally went to the huge library to see what sorts of books he could get into. To his surprise, Kirley Duke was there sprawling in a large armchair, a book open on his lap. It seemed to be speaking quietly.

"Hello, Mr. Duke," Teddy said, wanting to announce his presence, but not disturb him.

He smiled at Teddy. "It's Kirley, please. Don's doing a bit with the Pondhoppers, and they're blocking it out, so I thought I'd have a break. It's one of my favorites." He gestured at the book, which Teddy was now close enough to recognize as a wizarding edition of _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ , where the illustrations acted out the scenes if the reader wanted to see them. "You know, Shakespeare was a wizard. All historians agree on that. Well, wizarding historians anyway. Except your grandmother, who thinks it's poppycock."

Teddy laughed, a bit uncomfortably. He'd heard Granny expound on the subject before. She didn't just think it poppycock, she thought it absurd old-family nonsense meant to claim anything worthwhile for wizarding history, and since they'd never produced a playwright of any real note, they'd just appropriated Shakespeare. "Well," he said, "it's a good play isn't it?"

"One way or the other," Kirley said, and closed the book. "Were you looking for something in particular?"

Teddy shook his head. "No. Just thought I'd see if there was a good book around."

"They're _all_ good books."

Teddy nodded, uncertain of what to say. He glanced at the fireplace and asked, without having any particular goal in mind, "How did you make the back of the fireplace blue and bronze in the Floo network?"

"Ha!" Kirley put his book aside and leaned forward, eyes twinkling. "There's a little known fact - the great Catriona McCormack, star of the Pride of Portree, married a Floo repairman." He smiled fondly. "My sister Meghan always went to Mum's Quidditch practices, but it wasn't my cup of tea. I'd go to work with Dad. There's a whole world back there. I love it. Dad used to sing at the top of his lungs. I think people could sometimes hear him through the grates."

"How do you stop? I always wanted to know that."

"You don't, entirely. You just go through without giving a destination. But you have to hold on, or you'll end up wandering out there."

"Where _are_ they, really?"

Kirley raised his eyebrows. "Don said you're a Gryffindor. That's the sort of question I expect from Ravenclaws." He stood up. "Come on. I'll show you, if you'd like."

Teddy agreed to it immediately, and followed Kirley back to the hall where they'd all come in.

Kirley raised his wand at the fireplace and lit it, then grabbed a pouch of Floo powder and tucked it into the pocket of his robes. He took the main tin of it and grabbed a handful, then offered it to Teddy. "All right. I'll go ahead so I can catch you if you get into trouble, but what you need to do is toss in the powder, then go into the fire without giving a destination. When you get through, you'll start to feel the spin. There's a ledge on the far side of the grate. Grab onto it. If you miss it, I'll catch you."

Teddy nodded, and watched Kirley go in, then, when the flames normalized, threw in his own handful. He resisted the almost insurmountable urge to call out a destination, and stepped through.

He missed the ledge entirely, but Kirley caught his shoulder and swung him back, holding him still long enough to grab on. They were floating here, and there seemed to be a great, silent wind. Fires hung suspended around them, as far as the eye could see. It was like being a fly among the candles in the Great Hall. Teddy looked down into flame-spotted nothingness.

"Where _are_ we?" he asked.

"I'm afraid you're going to get a Ravenclaw answer instead of a Gryffindor one. There isn't a plain sort of spot. We're in a place between places, which isn't a place at all."

"Could we go to any of the grates?"

"No. There's security on them. And for God's sake, don't try to go back through this one without more powder, you'll be cooked." He fished in his robes and brought out the pouch. "You can only work on the grate you've come through. I wanted to touch this one up a little. Probably foolish, but it seemed amusing."

Teddy nodded. Aside from the fact that he was suspended and weightless in the middle of a place that didn't exist, it seemed like any other magic lesson. "What if someone else came through this one? Would he knock us off?"

"It's possible. Dad always cut off the system when he worked on it."

"Can I turn around?"

"Be careful not to let go."

Cautiously, gripping the ledge tightly, Teddy turned toward the emptiness beyond the grate. He'd never much cared for flying, but this was different. He laughed.

"Kirley!"

"Oh, damn," Kirley said. "Sounds like I'm needed back at rehearsal. We'd best get back to the inside."

Teddy pressed his fingers tightly into the edge and turned back around. Kirley let him take a handful of powder from the pouch, and he called, "Weird World," then spilled out onto the floor. Kirley came behind him, bounding out with great energy and not falling into anything.

"Thanks," Teddy said.

"Never ask a Ravenclaw a question," Kirley said solemnly. "There's always a danger of it being answered." He tipped Teddy a salute and followed one of the other band members (Teddy thought it was Merton Graves, but he was hard to recognize in a t-shirt and blue jeans) off toward the rehearsal wing.

"Lupin! Where've you been?"

Teddy turned. Corky was coming in, toweling his hair. Through the window, Teddy could see that everyone had congregated at the pool while he was gone.

"I haven't been anywhere," Teddy said.

"Well, then come out and be somewhere. Your girlfriend is actually in a real swimsuit." He waggled his eyebrows. "So's Victoire's mom."

"She's pregnant."

"Trust me, you can't tell."

"And Ruthless is actually wearing a swimsuit."

"We think so. She's got herself wrapped up in towels and she's hiding behind a mermaid statue. But she did put in her official vote for the 'Teddy-has-spent-long-enough-on-his-own' question, which passed unanimously, so I'm here to drag you outside."

"Can I get my swim things?"

"Frankie already brought them down to the changing room. No excuses. March."

Teddy raised his hands in mock surrender, and allowed himself to frog-marched out into the sunshine.

Ruthless's brothers finally coaxed her out from behind the statue, or perhaps "goaded" was a better word, as her Gryffindor spirit was questioned in the course of it. Under the huge towel she'd wrapped herself in, she was wearing a dark green one piece swimsuit which Teddy had a feeling would figure prominently in his dreams for a very long time. Judging by the way Roger and Corky were looking nervously away, he thought he wasn't the only one to think so.

He sat with her at the edge of the pool for a long time, but when he tried to kiss her cheek, she pulled away and reminded him of the rules.

Donzo and the Pondhoppers came out for lunch, and during the afternoon, there was a long rehearsal to which everyone was invited. Ellsworth Wintringham borrowed his grandson's lute at one point, and played the old wizarding carol, "The Spell on the Star." He asked Granny to come up and sing along. The lead singer of the Pondhoppers - the pretty blonde Teddy had seen yesterday - came up with the idea of audience sing-alongs for the concert itself, so they all ended up going through the old standbys, like "The First Noel" or "Three Wizards Crossed the Endless Sands." Josh Rosen from the Pondhoppers added a Hanukkah song - "The Muggles' Accidental Multiplication Spell" - which had something to do with oil and Muggles who were given the magic to make it last as long as they needed it to.

The next day, before the open rehearsal, Teddy took Ruthless for a walk in the woods by the ski slope (Granny double-checked the security before letting them out the door, which was somewhat embarrassing). There was magically produced snow, but there was also a magically produced warm, sunny day. Teddy had no idea how they made the two work together, but it did make for a nice walk, their shoes crunching in the ice while they basked in the sunlight.

Ruthless didn't look entirely pleased with the latter, and stopped abruptly, glaring at the sun for a moment before taking off her bulky jumper, chewing her gum angrily. Teddy was shocked to see that, underneath it, she was wearing a light blue sort of thing which had lace trim, and dipped down far enough to see her shoulder bones. It also actually seemed to fit her. She tied the jumper around her hips by the sleeves, then crossed her arms over her chest. "Mum brought me a lot of new clothes and I thought I should wear some of them so she thinks I like them but I _don't_ like them. When have you ever seen me with lace on?"

"Er..."

"And that swimsuit!"

"Well... it was pretty." He stopped, realizing that he'd used the hated word, but she was too distracted to care, shrugging up her shoulders to try and make the top of her blouse come up, which made it pull up and show part of her side above the tied sleeves of the jumper.

"Bugger!" she said, then followed it up with a prodigious string of other curses that she seemed to have been storing up, gesticulating wildly as she did so. Finally, she sat down miserably on a bench shaped like a lute. It began to play Herman Wintringham's solo from "Weirder by the Winter."

Teddy sat down beside her, ignoring the music. "It really doesn't look bad, you know."

"I know. I saw Atkinson and Young staring at me yesterday. Even Apcarne got himself an eyeful. Then they all started being _nice_. How am I supposed to stay friends with them when they're looking at me like that, and being nice?"

"Did you want me to talk to them?"

"No! I just want them to stop it. Start acting normal again." She shuddered. "I was watching Victoire's mum by the pool, talking to her dad. All that cooing and such. I don't want that. I don't ever want that to happen to me!"

Teddy felt a bit like he was swimming in the middle of the Atlantic, surrounded by sharks. On a cloudy night. With no clue where he'd been dropped or why. So he just arranged his face as sympathetically as he could, and did his best to make sure his eyes were nowhere near the lacy trim on her collar, which had bowed out a little bit and was showing further down toward a small shadowed hollow on her chest.

"It's all very stupid," Ruthless said, pouting.

"Mm-hmm."

She didn't say anything else. The lute solo continued to play cheerfully along. She chewed on her lip thoughtfully.

After nearly a minute, Teddy said, "Did you want to go back?"

She looked at him sheepishly, and took out her gum. "Not just yet."

"Oh. Am I allowed to look at you like a girl when I kiss you?"

"Only if you think it helps."

"Trust me," Teddy said, "it helps. But I promise - no cooing and such." He put his hand on her face, then leaned over and kissed her, trying to remember the way it was done in a Fifi LaFolle novel (he'd been parceling out _The End of the Earth_ as slowly as he could, to make it last, and hadn't had a kissing scene for some time). No stars exploded, but he thought one or two might be flickering hopefully.

Then he noticed that he was drooling on her.

He drew back and she wiped her face. "I'm in charge next time," she said, and the whole conversation was over. They walked back to the house together. She put her jumper back on before anyone saw her, and then they were at rehearsal with the whole group for the rest of the evening.

On Christmas Eve, Lee and Verity Jordan arrived with the equipment to broadcast over the Wizarding Wireless, and set up in the rehearsal hall. Lee's show went on all day before the concert, and he interviewed all of the Sisters, all of the Pondhoppers, and Donzo in the entertainment segments. He moved on to politics just after lunch, but kept it short in honor of Christmas.

"First," he said, "I'd like to give a hand to our Aurors, who've been taking a bit of heat from none other than our old friend Rita Skeeter. But they've done a fine job in an unexpected circumstance. And if the press has nothing better to do than light into Harry Potter for taking precisely three days to regroup, then I think the press is the organization that needs to rethink its priorities." He paused and glanced at Teddy. "Second, it's been a long time since I've given a message to a fugitive, and the one I want to give tonight won't be nearly as pleasant for the fugitive in question as our messages were when this show was still called PotterWatch. Our fugitive, in fact, is much less pleasant. He was a particular enemy of one of our favorite guests on PotterWatch, and has designs to keep his grudge going, even though our friend was already taken from us.

"So here's my Christmas message to Fenrir Greyback: We're coming for you. Harry's coming for you." He smiled fondly. "Don't know about the rest of you, but for me, that's a cheerful thought."

He cut to an advertisement for Weasleys', which featured a Shrinking Solution that was administered to someone called Fungal Grungeback, which apparently shrunk something he didn't care to have shrunk, and ended with everyone laughing uproariously while he tried threatening them in a high, squeaky voice. "Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes," George's voice announced. "Cutting them down to size since nineteen-ninety-six."

"Is that wise?" Granny asked quietly as soon as she was sure she wasn't being broadcast. "George has a two-year-old."

Lee shrugged. "Freddie's nowhere near George's house. George is nowhere near George's house. He and Angelina are living in Arabella Figg's old house at the moment. Probably driving Harry's aunt and uncle quite mad. But we're really hoping that Greyback gives it a go. He's got the whole place booby-trapped. It looks easier to get into than Hogwarts, but trust me, Greyback wouldn't get out any time soon."

"This is Harry's plan?" Granny asked, looking skeptical.

"No," Lee said. "It's George's and mine. And given the nod by a certain high-ranking government official currently in the West Indies, though he can't very well acknowledge it. And we reckon Fred would approve of it, and is doing whatever he can where he is to help. For Lupin. It's Operation PotterWatch. We take care of our own."

Teddy thought this a good plan - like something the Marauders might do - though he could see that Granny didn't like it for some reason. She didn't have time to protest, though, as the advertisements ended and Lee returned to his broadcast.

They all filed into the hall at seven-thirty and did sound checks for the audience and the stage. Donzo's mother, a sharp-faced woman who had been off arguing about a contract, arrived just in time to scurry backstage and help with the set-up. Kirley got them all warmed up for the group sing-along. Then, at eight o'clock sharp, they were live across the Wizarding Wireless Network. Myron Wagtail, the lead singer of the Weird Sisters, welcomed everyone and wished them Happy Christmas, then invited Donzo onto the stage to open things up with "The Little Drummer Boy." In a rehearsed move, Kirley interrupted the song and said, "Myron, Don's taller than you are these days - I think _you_ ought to do that number now."

After some written banter, they all did the number together, and Donzo took a solo of "That Old Christmas Spell," accompanying himself on guitar for the first time in a live concert. Later in the show, in another first, he played a song he'd written himself. Teddy felt Granny lean over toward Fleur, and heard her say, "I think Kirley's passing the Quaffle on to Donzo."

At nine-thirty, they started the sing-along, and Teddy imagined people curled up around their radios at home, singing along with all the old favorites. It felt something like that even here at the concert. They wrapped it up at ten, then all went down to the kitchen together for a late Christmas Eve party before everyone headed off for their own Christmas Day celebrations. Teddy exchanged gifts with his friends, glad to see that Ruthless liked the wand holster. She admitted that she'd found it hard to shop for him as well. She'd ended up getting him a replica of the insignia his character was meant to have as a pilot in the game. She'd had it engraved to "Wings."

Once the last pie had been eaten, they all went to the entrance hall, where the fire was blazing. Their suitcases were lined up in front of it, grouped by family. Teddy's and Granny's were at the end of the line, and he watched his friends disappear, jostling with their siblings. Corky went with Roger, whose parents would be waiting outside the Leaky Cauldron; Corky had a Portkey to catch there the next morning. Ruthless's youngest brothers were sleepy, and she'd picked one of them up without even thinking, and he was curled up asleep against her. Victoire and her sisters were all fondly gossiping, and Marie managed to beg a kiss on the cheek from Donzo before they went.

At last, it was just Granny and Teddy standing with the Dukes. Granny smiled graciously. "Thank you so much for inviting us. I never dreamed when my daughter started putting up posters of you that I would be indebted to you for such a lovely holiday."

"No question of debts, my dear lady," Kirley said. "Don was the only child around here for a long time; I'm glad to have so many others around."

"I wish I could invite you to our home for Christmas dinner, but Harry's already taken care of the security for who can come in."

"We'd have had to say no anyway," Kirley said. "I think my wife would explode if I took her away from home after only a few hours."

Donzo and Teddy looked at each other awkwardly, then muttered something about seeing each other at school.

Then Granny sent their bags ahead, and they each took a handful of Floo powder and spun into nothingness. Their home grate flew at them, and Teddy could feel the force of the security spells Uncle Harry had woven around it. They touched him and tasted him, then spat him through into Granny's parlor. He tried to keep his balance, but ran into the ottoman and went sprawling into the sofa, his hand landing on something warm and breathing.


	12. The Lost Treasure

**Chapter 12:**

 **The Lost Treasure**

Teddy let out a scream, and so did the small thing on the sofa. Its scream was high-pitched, then broke into a word, "TEDDY!"

" _Lumos!_ " someone said, and the lights came on.

James Potter was on the sofa, wearing bright red pajamas with different kinds of cartoon dragons flying around on them. He flung himself at Teddy and kissed his cheek with a great smacking sound. "Happy Christmas!"

Teddy blinked and said, "Er... happy Christmas, James." He looked up to find Uncle Harry leaning in the kitchen doorway, smiling. "I didn't know you'd be here already."

"James wanted to surprise you. I asked your Granny if we could just come here from Romania."

Granny went over to him and kissed his cheek. "Did you have a nice trip?"

"I saw _dragons!_ " James said. "All sorts of dragons! Uncle Charlie let me feed one of them."

"Where's Ginny?"

"Giving Al a bath upstairs. Lily's in the nursery. I hope you don't mind."

Teddy shook his head. "No. Does she like the pictures?"

"She loves the pictures."

Teddy's father had decorated the nursery during the months they waited for him to be born, and the walls were covered with beautiful moving drawings. Teddy had left the room when he got too old for them rather than painting over them. His parents - until close to the end - had had their own flat, but it had been hard to secure, and they'd spent almost all of their time at Granny's, especially after Granddad died. Teddy had been born in the very bed he slept in at home now. He was glad that Lily was in his cot. He had no use for it, but it always seemed a little silly to explain why he didn't just get rid of it.

"Sorry we're late," Granny said to Uncle Harry. "They wanted to exchange gifts after the concert."

"We listened on the wireless," James put in. "You were really, truly there?"

"I was."

"And that was really your friend Donzo, who has karate?"

Teddy laughed. Donzo's Muggles and Minions character was an expert in martial arts, and he'd spent a long afternoon explaining it to James the summer before last. James had listened patiently - a rarity - and come out of it understanding that Donzo had the power to kick a brick wall and make it fall down. Nothing could shake him from this belief, and he thought it a good deal more impressive than a music career. It had even made its way into one of his stories about Martian.

As if Summoned by thought, a ball of brown fuzz leapt over the back of the sofa and started to attack the bright buttons on Teddy's jacket.

"'Lo, Martian," Teddy said, plucking him down and handing him to James.

"Where's Checkmate?" Uncle Harry asked.

"Professor Longbottom said he'd take care of her for a couple of days. Bushy, as well. He'll bring them tomorrow. Victoire thought they might be scared to be in a big new place by themselves with all sorts of strange people."

Uncle Harry nodded soberly. "Very conscientious of her."

Aunt Ginny appeared at the bottom of the stairs, looking flustered, a towel-wrapped Al balanced on one hip. She went to Granny and kissed her cheek. "I'm so sorry to have just taken over your house. We were going to wait as good guests, but the children got quite sleepy, and then Al managed to spill hot chocolate all over himself. I'd have used a spell, but quite honestly, he was getting grimy and I thought he needed a real wash."

"It's quite all right," Granny said. "But oughtn't small boys be in bed by this hour on Christmas Eve? There could be other visitors out there who are waiting for them to be sound asleep!"

James sat up, looking quite alarmed. "Oh! I forgot. Daddy, can Father Christmas get through the security?"

"I cleared him personally," Uncle Harry said. "But now that you've seen Teddy, you really must go to bed."

"Couldn't I have a story?" James asked, looking eagerly at Teddy. "Just a little one."

"Sure," Teddy said. "Where are you sleeping?"

"I set up the twin beds in the big guest room before I left for the Dukes'," Granny said.

James wanted to be carried up. He was getting big for it, but Teddy didn't mind. Aunt Ginny followed along, and got Al into his pajamas while Teddy told the story of the Three Wizards and the Star. Al contributed a sub-plot about earning stars of his own in Mum's lessons, and James helpfully informed him that he'd missed the point. The point, according to James, wasn't the star - "Well, not _your_ star, anyway" - but the presents they were carrying, though he thought the baby might have liked a toy broomstick better than a couple of smelly potions.

"What else do you suppose they should have brought?" Aunt Ginny asked.

"Gingerbread," James suggested after a great deal of thought. "And a kitten."

Aunt Ginny nodded. "What about you, Albus? What do you think they ought to have brought?"

Al frowned in deep concentration, then said, "A little sister, like Lily."

"Other people can't bring you little sisters," James said testily. "Only Mummy and Daddy can do that."

Teddy thought of his parents sitting on the garden wall, making up names for children who would never be born. He forced a smile and gave the boys each a kiss, then helped Aunt Ginny tuck them in.

"They'll never sleep," she said.

Teddy shrugged as they passed the nursery door. "May I go in and kiss Lily?"

"Try not to wake her."

He nodded. Aunt Ginny went downstairs, and he heard her starting to to speak softly to Uncle Harry and Granny. Teddy pushed open the door and slipped inside.

The nursery was full of starlight, and Dad's drawings moved gently around him. A hippogriff swooped down, bending at the right angle by the door, and crouched above the skirting board. He bowed to it, and it bowed back, then he touched its head as if it were as real as Buckbeak. It flew back to the ceiling above where Lily Potter was asleep.

He went to the cot. Lily was a little too big for it - she was three - but Aunt Ginny had expanded it enough for her to fit in. She was sleeping soundly, little bubbles of spit gathering at the lower corner of her mouth. Her red hair had grown since the summer, and someone had put it into a braid tied off with a little green yarn bow. Judging by the sloppiness of the braiding, Teddy was willing to guess it had been Uncle Harry. He leaned down and kissed one chubby cheek. She made a comfortable sort of sound.

The cot itself was made from a desk that Mum had bought for Dad. Her own cot was long-since gone, and it hadn't been safe to shop for baby furniture during the year she was pregnant, so she'd spent her time taking the desk apart, magically re-shaping it, using its pieces to create a wholly new thing. The drawer handles still served as decoration, and one deep drawer left in the base had once held Teddy's nappies.

He tiptoed over to the rocking chair and sat down. People had once watched him sleep from this chair - his parents, Granny, Uncle Harry. Uncle Harry had told him this shortly after James was born, when Teddy had caught him sitting in James's nursery, looking fascinated as he watched the baby do nothing at all. Teddy supposed it must be true - there was no reason to lie about it - but watching Lily, he mostly felt restless. There was a little book shelf behind him, where Granny had kept his story books when he was little. A few of them were still there, gathering dust against a cardboard box that had been there for as long as Teddy could remember. He'd asked what was in it once, and Granny had just said, "Old books that you wouldn't like."

Having discovered _The End of the Earth_ , he suspected what sort of books they were, and why Granny couldn't bring herself to throw them out even though she thought they were rubbish. He got down on the floor and drew the box to himself, careful not to make any noise. It wasn't sealed, and he just lifted the flaps. As he'd expected, it seemed to be filled with _Enchanted Encounters_ novels, all of them showing beautiful witches pining away on seashores and mountaintops. He could imagine his mother sitting in the chair, either pregnant or holding him, restless as he was, picking up her pretty imaginary world and enjoying a little escape into some frivolous world where everything always came out right in the end. Teddy reached in and pulled a few out, then smiled. A few down from the top of the pile, he saw a familiar cloud of curly red hair, tossed in the ever-present breeze, improbably cradling a very large chest, upon which rested a garishly red ruby pendant.

 _The Treasure of Tirza Malone_ , the title said. _Part One of the Trials of Tirza, by Fifi LaFolle._

Teddy plucked it up out of time and pocketed it. Part Two ( _Holt's Harriers_ ) was only a little below it, and, to his delight, the final section, _The Lost Treasure_ , was lying along the side of the box. It was shiny and new looking, but there was a bookmark in it, and it was past the end of the story, in a preview for what was to be the next Fifi LaFolle novel. Mum had got to read the whole thing. He pulled out the bookmark. She'd written the names on it at some point. The name "Ted" had been written in large block letters and circled. Then Julia. Orion. Mira. Carina. John. Raymond. She'd put an arcing two-headed arrow between "Orion" and "John," and he wondered if she meant that they were to be mixed as first and middle name somehow. He wondered, particularly, if she'd meant it to be "Orion John" or "John Orion."

Which was a stupid and pointless thing to wonder about.

He put the bookmark back into _The Lost Treasure_ and took all three Tirza books back to his own room, then went downstairs to have hot chocolate and gingerbread with his guardians.

Teddy woke up on Christmas morning feeling out of place and guilty.

For the last two years, he'd been at Uncle Harry's all day - the whole school holiday his first year, and most of it last year - and before that, he and Granny had always opened presents, had a quick breakfast (though she made a special breakfast cake each year, which they never had on any other day, to mark the occasion), then Flooed to Grimmauld Place. It had been that way since Uncle Harry had finished his apprenticeship and got married. That had been when Teddy was four, and the last Christmas he'd spent here at Granny's was Teddy's third. He didn't really remember it.

Christmas was at Uncle Harry's because it was the day that everyone wanted to see him, to pass the time, to reminisce about their harrowing lives. It was on Christmas that Teddy tended to come face to face with otherwise disembodied names like "Parvati" or "Ernie" or "Susan" or "Seamus." He'd once met a pretty woman named Cho, who was the only one of Uncle Harry's school friends who always seemed uncomfortable with him. She'd gone quickly. His favorite intermittent visitor by far had been Oliver Wood, who'd come the year he was ten and gone on for a long time about Uncle Harry's Quidditch exploits... and managed to not mention the war even once. Oliver was fun. It had been Christmas the year that he was nine that he'd met Dean Thomas, the boy his father had died to save, who apparently saw Hermione regularly and Uncle Harry reasonably often, but who had seemed utterly terrified to so much as speak to Teddy. Teddy had no idea what he did, though he, like Dad, was a hobby artist, at least. He made drawings for all the Potter children's doors each year, and had done an especially nice one of Dad in his classroom for Granny to hang on the parlor wall here. Teddy had no idea how he was meant to feel about Dean, and wasn't sorry not to see him again.

These temporarily embodied wraiths would drop in, spend ten minutes with Uncle Harry and a cup of tea, and then drop back out until the next time they had the urge to regroup. It always seemed to brighten Uncle Harry's day up.

Thanks to Greyback, none of them would come this year. Uncle Harry had decided to move Christmas away from Grimmauld Place so no one would have to be turned away; they'd just find him not home. The Burrow and the Romp were also on people's visiting lists. And he'd wanted to make it somewhere comfortable for Teddy, even though there were more children at Shell Cottage and not many people would think to drop by there. So here they were, at Gran's, for the first time in ten years, and Teddy felt sure he'd managed to spoil the day for everyone before he even got up.

There was a soft pop, and his presents appeared at the foot of his bed. He'd barely reached for them when the door cracked open. A puff of brown hair and a pair of hazel eyes peeked in. "He's up," James whispered in a tone of voice so full of importance that Teddy knew he was speaking to Al and Lily, for whom he made all laws. "Teddy, Al and Lily want to know if we can open presents with you. Daddy said we were to wait until you were up."

"I'm up. Come in. Happy Christmas."

James grinned and pushed the door open. He led in his siblings, Al looking around anxiously, Lily toddling along with a determined look on her face. Bundles of packages bigger than they were floated after them, and landed on Teddy's bed, followed by three bouncing Potters. James had to help Lily up, but she made up for it by jumping avidly up and down until she tumbled cheerfully over Teddy's right leg. She looked up at the Muggles and Minions poster of the chemist girl in her short, low-cut robe and said, "Pehty."

Teddy wasn't entirely sure how to explain the poster, so he diverted their attention by handing out presents.

James was delighted with the book Teddy had got him, and immediately started to read it - after a fashion - to Lily. Teddy dug into his own pile. James had written him another story. This one featured Teddy himself working with Checkmate to track down Greyback, who they defeated by flying a dragon down at him, picking him up, and dropping him back at Azkaban, where none of the other prisoners would play with him at all. Al and Lily had helped Aunt Ginny make biscuits, and decorated several in Gryffindor colors for Teddy. There were new clothes from most of the adults, including a roomy new red jumper from Molly; he deduced that Uncle Harry had told them that Teddy seemed to be outgrowing quite a pile of clothing.

"Where are - " Uncle Harry leaned in the door, looking exasperated. "James, I told you to wait until Teddy was up!"

"I was up," Teddy said.

Uncle Harry rolled his eyes. "Did he give you a chance to actually get up and wash?"

"Well... I invited them in."

"Of course." He looked at James. "Take your brother and sister downstairs; Granny Andromeda has a special breakfast ready."

James pouted, but he rarely disobeyed when he was put in charge of an operation. He helped Lily slither down, then marched the other two out.

"I have another present for you," Uncle Harry said, looking serious. "It's just between us."

"Oh." Teddy got out of bed and sat down at his desk. He pulled over another chair for Uncle Harry, who waved his wand and pulled a scroll out of the air.

"This is the deed to the Shrieking Shack. I have it in trust, since you can't own it until you come of age, but it legally belongs to you." He showed Teddy his name on the deed, which seemed quite unreal. "It was bought with money that's yours, anyway - at least as far as I'm concerned - so by itself, it's not a gift. The gift is little. The deed, a few things you'll find to help fix it up - "

"Will you help?"

"I'll help." He grinned. "We'll consider that a present as well. And this." He produced an iron key ring, with three keys dangling from it. "The big one is for the front door, the middle one is for the gate. They both have all of the charms you need to get in, even from the Hogsmeade side. The last one is just a key in appearance. Press it into the mantel - you'll see the spot - to connect to the Floo network. It doesn't make sense for it to be hooked up full time with no one living there, but in case of an emergency, you'll be able to get in and get away. And, though you're absolutely not to tell anyone this, you may Floo directly to Auror Headquarters from there, security be damned. Don't try to take anyone else through. Now, let's make sure the keys don't get away from you. Hold up your hand."

Teddy did as he was told, and Uncle Harry did a complex sort of tethering spell - "Not worth it when there's no good reason" - which attached the keys to Teddy himself, so that he could always reach out and find them. "Professor Longbottom helped come up with this spell," Uncle Harry said. "It's related to the spells that used to be on the Room of Requirement. He still hasn't figured all of them out, but we thought this might at least be useful. If you feel you need the keys, think very hard about needing them, then close your fist three times and they should show up somewhere nearby, even if you've left them under your bed here."

"Wow," Teddy said. "Thanks. Where _should_ I keep them?"

"I'd put them in your trunk. Seems safely away from questioning eyes."

There was a great crashing noise downstairs, then someone said, "Rosie, you have to wait until you're out of the fire before you take your dolly out of the box!"

"Sounds like Ron and Hermione are here," Uncle Harry said. "I'll let you get dressed."

He left, and Teddy cleaned up and dressed in some of his new clothes, including Molly's jumper. By the time he got downstairs, Percy Weasley and his family had arrived, and Bill and Fleur were in the process of coming through. Fleur was carrying baby Muriel and proudly wearing her own jumper, which was a pretty light blue with some fluffy, silvery yarn worked in. She always seemed the most pleased by the yearly gift.

Victoire came spinning gracefully out of the fireplace, wearing a light purple jumper with a fussy sort of neckline that must have taken Molly forever. She shook her hair out and dusted herself off, then came over to Teddy to wish him a happy Christmas.

Bill finally came through with Artie, and the flames went from green to red as everyone greeted everyone else. Teddy looked out the back window and saw Professor Longbottom and Vivian Waters coming up from the Apparition point by the pond, each of them carrying a basket with a cat in it. Victoire ran out to get Bushy, and Teddy followed, glad to see Checkmate again. While they were still outside, Molly and Arthur Weasley Apparated in, and they all walked back to the house together. They got in just in time to see the flames in the fireplace go green again.

George Weasley appeared, baby Freddie clutched in his arms. Angelina came a moment later, laden with presents and baby things. George came over to Uncle Harry, who was standing not far from Teddy, and said, "There's one more back there. Says he really wants to come and see Teddy."

Teddy wasn't at all sure who George meant. Uncle Harry looked surprised, but shrugged and took a handful of Floo Powder and said, "Number Fifteen, Wisteria Walk." He disappeared for a good deal longer than George did, and when the flames went green again, he came back dragging the most terrified looking Muggle that Teddy had ever seen.

Dudley Dursley took several harsh breaths, shook his finger at Uncle Harry, and said, "I'm not going back that way!"

Dudley made a point of saying hello to Teddy, but mainly spent the morning huddled on the sofa, looking warily at the pastry tray until Uncle Harry promised him that there were no Weasley products on it. The pair of them talked awkwardly for a little while, sharing only one actual laugh, when Dudley mentioned his father bellowing about "unnaturalness" when George had come over with a singing poinsettia. Dudley did an imitation of said bellow, and Uncle Harry laughed crazily, though Teddy didn't think it was an especially funny thing. From what Teddy could gather, Dudley had decided to leave with George and Angelina on the spur of the moment, and didn't expect his parents would miss him until four o'clock, when they would serve dinner and expect him there. He'd heard enough commentary about a girl he happened to be going out with, and also wanted to avoid an appearance on his father's "blog."

"Goes on it every day, and talks about drills, except when he's talking about work around the house, and how well his drills do for it. He had designs to put the camera on me and show me putting up a new door."

"He'll catch you tonight, you know," Uncle Harry said.

"With luck, he and Aunt Marge will break out the sherry, and he'll forget about it."

"Aunt Marge is there?"

"Oh, yes. She asked about you. Dad told her you spend your days with a lot of criminals."

"Undoubtedly from my years at St. Brutus's," Uncle Harry said.

Teddy didn't follow most of this. It was their shared secret language. It didn't seem to have much in it, or to be used to say anything pleasant, but it was theirs, just as Aunt Ginny and her brothers had a language from growing up in the Burrow, or the way Victoire and her sisters could finish each other's sentences even while they were fighting. Teddy wondered who he'd talk to at Christmas when he grew up, and amused himself by imagining his friends and enemies, all old, dropping by. Of course, he imagined that a visit from Dudley would be rather like Honoria Higgs happening by his own house, trying to make conversation about the time she'd misquoted Teddy in the _Charmer_ and nearly lost him his best friend.

He cast about for someone else to join, but the little children were all comparing their new toys, and he'd feel out of place with them, while Victoire and Marie had become quite girlish, doing some complex thing with one another's hair that involved braiding in some new things they'd got for Christmas. He drifted over to Professor Longbottom and Vivian, who were talking to Ron and Hermione, but it was too strange to spend time with a teacher outside of school, so he moved on to George, Bill, and Fleur, who were talking about George's plan to trap Greyback. Teddy would have very much liked to stay in this conversation, but Granny, deeply frustrated, broke it up, saying that she didn't care to have Fenrir Greyback in her house for Christmas, and if she'd wanted him, she'd have invited him.

The pastry tray and cut vegetables faded neatly into a huge buffet lunch, and James gave up comparing his toys to Rose and Aimee's in order to sit with Teddy and describe all of them, even though Teddy had been right there as he'd opened them. Teddy was feeling slow and full, and he hoped that Granny was planning a very late supper. He suggested going out to the garden, and James thought it a grand idea.

They walked along the path, deeply inside the security spells, and looked at uninteresting December plant life. James sniffed a rose bush and pretended that it smelled good.

Teddy sat down and glanced at a shallow stone basin that had been built to resemble a birdbath, though the bottom was strewn with moonstones. It had been his grandfather's Scrying dish. He didn't think Firenze would make much of it - purely a fortune-telling device - but Trelawney would probably approve. Granny said that Granddad's attitude toward Divination was rather lackadaisical for a Seer, but that he'd had plenty of good information from the dish. It needed a wand, so Teddy had never tried it himself. He wondered if it would work for him.

"Is that a Seeing Bowl?" James asked eagerly. "Mum found one in the attic, but she won't use it. She says that it belonged to someone bad and might show her bad things. I want to see the future, though. Could I see the future in this one? Could you see yours? What are you going to be when you grow up?"

"I don't know."

"Do you want to be an Auror?"

Teddy shook his head. "No. I don't want to be a teacher, either."

"Why would you want to be a teacher?"

"My dad was a teacher. My mum was an Auror." He'd always felt slightly guilty that neither career appealed to him much.

"Really?"

"What do _you_ want to be?"

"An Auror, like Daddy," James said, and jumped onto a garden bench, grabbing a twig to wave around. "You stop right there... you're not going to get away from me!" He sat down. "Did you want to be an Auror when you were six?"

"No. I never wanted to be an Auror."

"What did you want to be when you were six?"

"A dustbin man," Teddy said. "I thought it would be fun to see what everyone threw away."

This career path had apparently never occurred to James, and he immediately started to spin a story about it, in which he was a heroic dustbin man who found a treasure map in someone's rubbish. He was about to tell the Queen about it when Dudley Dursley opened the back door and took a few tentative steps into the garden. He stopped just short of Teddy and James and said, "Er, I thought I'd... well, that is, I talked to Harry and he reckons it's not a bad idea."

"What's not?" James asked.

"Well - this bloke who's after you, he got out with people using normal ways. Boats and such, not magic."

Teddy frowned, not sure where this was going. "Right."

"If he gets your wand away from you, you might run into trouble getting away. I asked Harry if I could teach you how to win against someone bigger than you without magic." He seemed pleased to have got through the sentence, and smiled. "I was a boxer," he added. "Your mum and dad saw me fight once."

"How did that happen?"

"He was at my school to make sure nothing happened to me. Your mum came along for the ride, I think. They helped a lot. He did something to my memory to make me forget, but he warned me that he wasn't very good at it. It sort of came apart a couple of years later, and I remembered everything. I'm glad he wasn't very good at it."

Teddy shook his head. He knew the story of his Dad going undercover at Smeltings, but somehow, he'd entirely forgotten that it had anything to do with Dudley. He didn't think that learning how to box with Greyback was going to make any difference, but he knew the look on Dudley's face - the "I will give something to Professor Lupin's son" look. He'd once complained to Uncle Harry after a woman named Lavender had insisted on making sure he knew how to do his sums when he was eight, and Uncle Harry had been cross with him. "She's honoring your dad, Teddy," he said. "And she _needs_ to do it. It won't hurt you to spend an hour at your sums, and it will make Lavender happy."

Teddy hadn't been thrilled about it, but after he finished the problems Granny had set for him and Lavender praised him, he saw that she _was_ happy, and he rather liked feeling that he had helped. It didn't happen often, and was nearly always about Dad (Mum's friends didn't seem to feel that the scales were out of balance in the way that Dad's former students tended to, though Berit Ollivander had helped Teddy on Mum's account once), so when it did, Teddy felt that he could take with good grace whatever they felt it necessary to give. If Dudley wanted to teach him how to box, it could even be interesting, though he doubted it would ever be particularly helpful.

He shrugged. "I could do that," he said. "But we'd best keep it back here. I don't think Granny would like bringing Greyback into the house."

Dudley looked delighted. "That's fantastic! We can start, well..." He looked at James.

"Couldn't I stay?" James asked. "Perhaps I could be a boxer." He punched the air with tiny fists.

"If it's all right with Teddy," Dudley said. "But don't start using it on your brother. I don't think Harry would take to me teaching you to do _that_."

"I never hit Al," James said righteously, though Teddy knew for a fact that the pair of them pummeled each other on a regular basis for some reason.

Dudley didn't look like he believed this for a second, but didn't question it. "You're too small to really try it," he said. "You can stay here on the bench to watch. Teddy, you need to come out here." Teddy did so. Dudley towered over him. "Now," he said, "the first thing you need to remember is that you can't let him get hold of you. If a bigger bloke gets hold, you're sunk before you start. So you need to be fast..."


	13. Brothers

**Chapter 13:**

 **Brothers**

Teddy had never been particularly fond of sports, and he suspected Dudley was frustrated by his inability to put his feet exactly where he was told to put them, in exactly the right way. His balance was off, and he managed to tip sideways and end up essentially falling into Dudley, who was representing Greyback, which seemed a less than advantageous approach.

"All right," Dudley said, "let's get a little less fancy. First thing you've got to do is recognize where I'm coming at you from, and block it." He moved his left arm quickly, but there was nothing wrong with Teddy's eyesight, and he was able to fling his right arm out to block it. Dudley nodded. "Good. We'll keep up with this. And don't worry, when I started this, I was so fat I practically tipped over just by shifting my weight."

And keep up with it, they did. Dudley slowly added more to it, and talked about his "center of gravity," which was meant to help him keep his balance. They used the round stones that lined the path for balance exercises, while James mirrored it by walking along the edge of the bench with an ease that Teddy envied. After forty minutes, Al and Artie ran out to collect James for a game out in the front garden, girls against boys in a marshmallow war. George was supplying exploding marshmallows. Teddy allowed that he was a bit too old for this.

When James and Al were gone, Dudley taught him some good ways to hit a person, and how to put all of his weight into it. Then, he went back to the balance exercises.

"Sorry to get into that, but this business with falling could get you into trouble at a bad time. You should practice doing this. D'you have some rocks or whatnot to practice on up at your school?"

"There are some around the lake."

"Good. Just find a bunch of really uneven ones and practice walking on them without flailing about."

"I'm always going to be clumsy. My mum was clumsy."

Dudley shrugged, unimpressed. " _My_ mum's compulsive about cleaning the house. I decided I'd rather watch a game than clean the sink with a toothbrush. Try it again."

They kept it up for another hour, then a cold rain started to fall, and Dudley checked his watch. "I reckon I'd best find out how I'm getting back to Little Whinging before dinner. You're not half bad at this, you know."

Teddy frowned in concentration and made five steps along the stones without flailing for balance, then stepped down onto the flat path. "Thanks for teaching me," he said.

Dudley puffed up visibly and said, "Well, I reckon you'll do just fine. Really wasn't much to teach you."

Teddy walked back inside with him. The adults were sitting around the fire, picking at Christmas biscuits, playing cards, and chatting about the school. Teddy had to look twice before he realized that Professor Longbottom's arm was actually around Vivian Waters' shoulders.

"Not a word at school, Teddy," Professor Longbottom said.

Teddy nodded vaguely, attempting to remove the information from his mind entirely.

Dudley had gone to Uncle Harry, who was talking to Granny, and they were debating how best to get him home. Granny said she could drive, but the drive to Surrey would take longer than was strictly a good idea. Uncle Harry was trying to convince Dudley to let him bring him back magically, either by dragging him through the Floo again, or dragging him along as an object in Apparition. "I really ought to say Happy Christmas to Aunt Petunia some year or another," he said.

"It's probably happier for both of you if you don't," Dudley said.

They weren't paying any particular attention to Teddy. He drifted away. For a few minutes, he joined Percy, Molly, and Arthur, but they were halfway through an involved sort of board game. Teddy moved on shortly after he saw Uncle Harry leave with Dudley, headed for the Apparition boundary. Audrey and Fleur were cleaning in the kitchen, getting things in order, laughing about Weasley men. Teddy didn't think he had much to contribute to the conversation. He went back upstairs. There was laughter coming from his nursery, and he went quietly to the door. Lily Potter was sitting at the work table, tangling her red hair around a baby brush. Hugo Weasley had hold of a little drum that Teddy had used to play with, and he was hitting it enthusiastically, making little musical notes float up into the air with each beat.

Angelina Weasley was sitting on the floor, getting a new pair of trousers onto Freddy. "I thought we had it when we got him out of nappies. Mum didn't warn me about all of the things that can happen with magical accidents!"

From the chair, there was a soft laugh, and Teddy looked across to see Victoire, her baby sister Muriel sitting on her lap. Muriel had a no-spill cup, and Victoire was helping her hold it, tipping it to her mouth expertly. "Artie once inflated his trousers and nearly floated away," she said. "And sometimes, I have to be in charge of all of them, and Muriel and Artie both sometimes... Teddy? Why are you lurking?"

Teddy shrugged. "Just wondered who was in here. They used to feed me in that chair, I think."

"Do you want to try with Muriel? It's fun."

"No, thanks."

"Scared of a little baby?"

"Dead terrified," Teddy said. He went across the hall to his own room, which was empty. Out the window, he could see James leading the boys' charge against Aimee, who was leading the girls. They all seemed to be having a great deal of fun. He looked away. The Fifi LaFolle books he'd found were sitting on his end table, the bookmark with Mum's chosen names lying on top of them. The old, familiar sense of wanting his mum, just wanting to see her face, came to him, and he fought with it. He was too old for it at any rate; it wasn't like his friends whose mothers were alive were always running about wanting to see them. He'd probably be making excuses for her pink hair if she were here. Complaining about Dad going on about his days as a Marauder. Chasing Julia and Raymond away from his school things before they did any damage and...

"Stop it," he told himself. "It's Christmas."

His traitor imagination didn't obey, instead Conjuring hazy, bitter images of cheerful Christmases, with Mum dancing clumsily around the kitchen, wearing a red and white hat, tipped jauntily to one side, while Dad sat with the little ones in his lap, reading them stories. Granny and Granddad spoiled all of them quite rotten, of course. Granddad would sing as badly as Mum danced. Julia had on half of the clothes in Mum's wardrobe and was carrying around a huge handbag, tromping in high heels that Mum couldn't handle without falling. Teddy hid her face behind large sunglasses, as he had no idea what she would actually look like.

He ground his teeth. _This_ was what Uncle Harry meant about dwelling on dreams. Julia and Raymond were dreams. Mum in the kitchen with the hat was a dream, and so was Dad with a pair of smiling toddlers in his lap, reading about jolly bloody St. Nicholas. Teddy didn't _want_ to be lost in the dream. The dream was awful. He ought to march back into the nursery and pick up Muriel, and try to get her cup of milk down her throat without killing her. Or he should go out to the game and help the little boys, though it wasn't entirely fair. Perhaps he should ask Victoire to come down and take up with her sisters and cousins so it would be even.

Instead, he took Mum's bookmark and went back out to the garden. No one saw him. He went back to the bench by Granddad's Scrying dish. It was starting to get cold, and a thin frost had spread over the stone.

With some effort, Teddy pried up the base of it, and slipped the bookmark under it. He set it back down. With his finger, he wrote "Julia" in the frost, followed by "Orion," "Raymond," and the others. He leaned over and looked into the stale autumn rainwater that had gathered around the moonstones. "Show me," he said. "Just once, show me."

It remained blank.

He looked back at the house. There were dozens of magical decorations. Bill and Percy were currently Levitating something that George was trying to catch. Granny was magically cleaning up from the snacks. There was no chance at all of the Ministry noticing one tiny extra bit of magic.

He took out his wand and prodded the water in the basin.

The water went cloudy, like he'd dropped sand into it. He saw a flash here - light brown eyes like his own (unmorphed, anyway); a twirl of long, sandy-brown hair; a mischievous grin on a face he couldn't see the rest of. Then the water went entirely white. A white shape pushed up from it, became an upraised hand, the sign for "Stop."

Teddy jumped back.

The hand sank and disappeared. Teddy looked back down into the basin. The water was clear. His body had warmed the stone, and the names he'd written in the frost were gone. He sat back. The burning need to dream was gone, which was good, but he felt low and lonely, and he wished he'd invited some of his school friends, or that Victoire was doing anything other than playing with her baby sister. He wished he could use the Marauder's Map, but didn't dare try any more illegal magic... and didn't really want their jovial teenage opinion on this particular matter.

"Teddy!"

He looked up. James had come around the house. He had an exploded marshmallow stuck to one earlobe. Teddy turned away quickly, aware that his eyes were wet. He wiped them and said, "I'll be in soon, James."

"Aimee wants to have a treasure hunt," James said. "Could you make a treasure hunt for us? Granny Andromeda says it's time to come inside, before it gets dark."

"I'll be along in a minute," Teddy said again. His throat felt tight. He didn't want James to see him like this.

James's small hand patted his head. "Are you sad?"

"Yes," Teddy said. "Go away, James." He winced, horrified with himself, but James didn't seem upset. He came around to the basin side, where Teddy had turned to look away from him, and insinuated himself onto the bench between Teddy and the Scrying dish. His lower lip was stuck out stubbornly. Teddy hugged him, then drew away. "Go on back to your family," he said.

James blinked at him in a confused way, then seemed to decide not to try and puzzle things out. "You should come in as well. If you don't want to play at the treasure hunt, you said you'd teach me Tarot poker! I even brought cards."

"Tarot poker?" Teddy couldn't remember ever bringing up the subject of Tarot poker with James, but he couldn't think of where else he'd have got the idea. It had been a game that the Marauders had played, and Teddy had seen it in the ring memories. Why had he told James about it? When?

"You said. In the letter you wrote to me that Dad brought. You said we could play together."

"I did?"

"Yes!" Now James was starting to look spooked, and Teddy wondered just what his own face was doing. He reached up to touch it; it didn't seem to have morphed at all. James frowned. "Teddy, you should come inside!"

It seemed very urgent, so Teddy let himself be led back in. James ran upstairs and got a deck of Tarot cards, and Teddy spent the rest of the time until dinner teaching James, Al, and - eventually - Victoire how to play the silly game, which involved having a turned out card stuck to their heads (George provided packaged sticking charms, so they wouldn't have to break the law), which they didn't know. They had to bet on who had the highest. Granny insisted that they use the leftover biscuits for betting. Al won the biggest pile of them.

The strange, disconnected feeling began to fade during dinner, as he and Victoire caught the family up on life at Hogwarts. Professor Longbottom made a great show of whistling to himself while they talked about the hex war and sneaking out at night, though he ended up contributing a story about a midnight duel with Draco Malfoy that Uncle Harry had somehow forgotten to mention over the years.

The guests, with the exception of Uncle Harry's family, left after pudding, and it was already time for the smaller children to be in bed. James wanted another story, and Al wanted to be tucked in and tickled. Aunt Ginny took care of the latter, playing a game in which she snuck up on him then became the Tickle-Mummy-Monster. Teddy made up a story for James about a girl named Julia who flew to the moon on a toy broomstick that had been secretly given very special Charms. James declared it his very favorite yet.

Teddy went across to his nursery, where Uncle Harry had got Lily into her pajamas, and was now sitting in the rocking chair trying - around her squirming - to comb snarls out of her hair. He frowned at a difficult one and raised his wand, then set it down again.

"Isn't there an unsnarling spell?" Teddy asked.

"Yes," Uncle Harry said, "But last time I tried it, I ended up cutting off a chunk of her hair. She cried until Aunt Ginny got it to grow back." He fought with the snarl a bit more, and Lily sniffled.

Teddy bit his lip. "I don't reckon I could... give it a go?"

Uncle Harry handed him the comb with great ceremony and said, "Be my guest, Teddy." He stood up and let Teddy sit down, then plopped Lily onto his lap. She immediately started to bounce around and ask for a game. Uncle Harry raised an eyebrow in challenge.

"Hush," Teddy tried.

This had no effect.

"Why not play the quiet game?" Uncle Harry suggested. "You remember the quiet game, don't you, Teddy? Where you see how very, very quiet you can be?"

"Er... sure," Teddy said, then smiled daffily at Lily. "So how quiet can you be?"

She hunched her shoulders up and put her finger over her mouth, and whispered, "Thith kwyt."

"Very good," Teddy said, and, with some trepidation, tackled the snarl.

It was snowing lightly when Teddy woke up the next morning, making everything muffled, even the sounds inside the house. He could tell that Granny was making breakfast again, and he could hear James and Al chasing each other, but he wanted to stay in bed for a few more minutes, to...

He wasn't sure why he didn't want to go down yet. He just wanted to be alone. He stretched his legs, then reached over and picked up _The Treasure of Tirza Malone_ , the first of the Tirza books, and got brainlessly lost in the first chapter, which introduced Tirza as the orphaned daughter of a dispossessed noblewizard, who'd held onto one precious possession, the huge stone known only as The Birthright Ruby. She was trying desperately to regain her family's home, which had been taken over by the villainous Malacquis clan. In the midst of this, she heard rumors of the famous jewel thief, Holt Oakenwand, who had stolen an emerald necklace from a banker's wife who lived nearby. It was all quite stupid, and quite entertaining, and he decided that he ought to learn to transfigure the covers into something about pirates, so he could grab a chapter or two between classes.

There was a soft knock on the door. "Teddy?" Granny called. "Are you awake?"

"I'm up," he said.

She opened the door and leaned in. "I have breakfast out, and - " She stopped and raised an eyebrow. "Is that a Fifi LaFolle novel?"

"I found it in the nursery."

Granny smiled somewhat sadly. "Well, if you have an honestly-come-by quirk, it's Fifi LaFolle. Just tell me that you're not taking romantic advice from her now that you're going out."

Teddy, who was thinking about skipping ahead to see if he could find Holt and Tirza's first kiss to get pointers from, said nothing.

Granny came over, plucked it out of his hands, and winced at the prose. "This is not how it actually works, you know."

"Sure. Tirza never gives rules."

"Rules?"

"You know - no kissing in public, no googly eyes, that sort of thing." Teddy looked at her cautiously, wondering if the look on her face was because she didn't want to talk about his going out with anyone, or because Ruthless's rules weren't normal. He cautiously said, "Did you have rules with Granddad?"

"Quite a few. Most dealing with how to stay away from the Blacks."

"Was he allowed to say you were pretty?"

"It was a requirement of sorts. Ruth doesn't like to be called pretty?"

Teddy shook his head. "She thinks it's girly. Granny, do you like Ruthless?"

"Yes. In her own very odd way, I think she's a lovely girl."

"Do you think my parents like her, if they're watching?"

"They are. And I'd wager your dad thinks she's a smashing choice. Your mum might think she needs to be a bit friendlier, but she'd just wish she could be here to try harder to set a friendly example."

"What about Granddad?"

"Your granddad had a notable weakness for girls with a lot of danger attached to them. I'm sure he's quite fond of Ruth. Why the questioning?"

"I just wondered. Ruthless was sure that her brothers would all tease her."

"She has brave brothers." Granny smiled. "And at some point, she's going to have to drop the silly nickname."

Teddy wondered if she knew of any good books on kissing, if she didn't think Fifi LaFolle was a good source, but as he didn't really want diagrams and a list of possible curses that could be passed through the lips - along with detailed stories about having treated those curses - he decided not to ask. "Are the Potters leaving?"

"Harry has to go back to work, and the children want to go back to their rooms to play with their toys, though I don't think they've quite realized that we're not going back with them. Harry actually wondered if you'd like to go with him today. He's going to France, to talk to the cubs from Greyback's pack. I told him I thought you might enjoy it, but I didn't want to speak for you."

"It's all right for me to leave the house?"

"As long as you're physically traveling with Harry Potter, it's all right for you to leave the house. If you decide you want to wander around Knockturn Alley on your own, it's not all right. Are we clear?"

Teddy nodded. He said that he'd very much like to go, and asked if he could possibly get dressed first. By the time he got downstairs, most of breakfast had been polished off, so he just grabbed half a loaf of bread on the way to the Apparition barrier. Uncle Harry was dressed officially again today, with scarlet robes and shiny black shoes. He looked up sheepishly from the muddy, snowy ground and said, "Will you think less of me if I do an Impervius Charm on my feet as well as my glasses?"

"Definitely," Teddy said. "It's all anyone would ever think of Harry Potter - the Man Who's Afraid To Get His Shoes Wet."

Uncle Harry laughed and did the charm, then led the way out into the snow. The world had developed a soft white blanket, and the air seemed cushioned, flattening their voices. "I'm actually going to talk to Père Alderman's mother. She worked in the Werewolf Capture Unit for years - that's why Greyback took her son - and I was hoping to persuade her to come back to work to help us. I thought you might like to meet the others. And you could talk to little Neil Overby, who's settling in fairly well, now that most of his wounds are healed." They reached the Apparition border, and Uncle Harry held out his arm. Teddy took it. The world went dark and pinched, and Teddy felt like all of the air was squeezed out of him, then they were on a sunny mountainside, in an evergreen glade. A woman he at first took for Fleur Weasley was waiting for them, then he realized that she was younger, a bit thinner, and looking at him like she was waiting to be introduced instead of waiting for him to offer help in the kitchen.

"Gabrielle," Uncle Harry said, "I don't know whether or not you remember my godson, Teddy Lupin. Teddy, this is Fleur's sister, Gabrielle Delacour."

She smiled. "'Arry, eet 'as been DuLac for six years now. Teddy, eet is good to see you. My nieces write of you often. Especially Victoire."

"Victoire's my friend at school," Teddy said.

"Ah. Of course." Gabrielle turned down a path, indicating that they should follow. "Mirabelle is waiting beyond the trees," she said. "Zere is enough snow for the sleigh, no? She is in a 'urry. You weel see why."

Curious, Teddy followed. As soon as they cleared the trees, he saw a pure white hippogriff reined to a sleigh. Gabrielle bowed to it casually and it bowed back, then let her - along with Teddy and Uncle Harry, climb into the sleigh. There was a jolt, and then the sleigh was rushing along the ground, then over it. Below, Teddy saw the path winding up to the top. There was a large gap in it that would prevent casual hikers from getting to the sanctuary. He saw a flat area short of the summit, with two bowl-shaped depressions ringed by trees, and a narrow path leading to a collection of cabins arranged loosely around a village square. Gabrielle pulled on the reins, and Mirabelle circled down to it. As soon as the sleigh touched down, Gabrielle unhitched the hippogriff, which ran eagerly across to a paddock.

"Come," Gabrielle said. "You 'ave a moment. Fiona weel be zere anyway."

Teddy let himself be led across the square to the paddock, where he could hear strangely low-pitched chirping. Mirabelle was rooting in a barrel and came up with a dead ferret, which she chewed, but didn't swallow. Teddy was glad he hadn't had much breakfast.

Then he forgot entirely that it was nasty, as Mirabelle leaned over a fence and a tiny golden beak came up to take a bit of ferret from her. A downy head appeared, then ducked back down again.

"When did they hatch?" Uncle Harry asked. "Hagrid said that he'd been bringing Buckbeak down to visit, but I didn't know how well they'd, er... got along."

"Zey 'atched last month," Gabrielle said. "Buckbeak is a proud papa now."

"Can I look?" Teddy asked.

"Be careful," Uncle Harry said. "Hippogriffs are always a bit dangerous, and I imagine a new mother is nervous on top of it."

Gabrielle nodded her agreement. Teddy went carefully to the pen where the babies were, staying to the far side of it, where he wasn't in reach of Mirabelle's talons. He looked down. The bottom of the pen was lined with hay, and their foal-like hindquarters seemed more at home in it than their front talons, though they were quite wobbly regardless. One of them spread his stubby, fuzzy wings.

Teddy thought them both ugly and wonderful.

"Are you new here?" someone said softly.

Teddy turned around to find a small, frightened-looking boy standing in the shadows, holding a bucket of water. He seemed weak, and there were dark circles under his eyes. "I'm just visiting."

The boy nodded. "You don't look like you're one of us."

"Neil! That's rude." A woman came scurrying out of the shadows, brushing hay from her clothes and looking apologetically at Teddy. She was dressed in work clothes, but Teddy could see that she was very beautiful, with a cloud of curly chestnut-colored hair and a tiny, upturned nose. She smiled across the paddock to where Uncle Harry was now talking to an older woman, then looked back down, scanning Teddy's face hungrily. "You must be the Lupins' son. And Andromeda's grandson. I thought she was the most beautiful person I had ever seen. With the most wonderful name." She stuck out her hand. "I'm Evelyn Blondin," she said. "And you've met my foster son, Neil Overby. He came to us this fall. Neil, this is Teddy. His parents were very important in making a safe space for all of us."

"Where are they?" Neil asked.

"They died," Teddy said briefly.

Neil nodded. "Mine, too. Are you a werewolf?"

"No. My dad was."

"Oh." Teddy bit his lip. "Is Millicent Bulstrode here?"

"Sometimes," Neil said. "Not today. She's getting a new leg in Paris."

There didn't seem to be much else to say. Teddy was always coming across the notion that there were worse things than losing his parents cleanly in battle before he was old enough to remember having them, but he rarely ran across a clearer case of than Neil's. He felt absurd even comparing it, and guilty for feeling sorry for himself yesterday. Neil had to have watched Greyback murder his entire family. Teddy had just slept through it while it was happening a country away. He didn't think he had any words of hard-earned orphan wisdom that would help.

Evelyn - Teddy guessed she must be the "Evvy" that Vivian had talked about - waved her arm widely, and a tall blond man came across the square toward them. He stopped to talk to Uncle Harry, then came around. He smiled, and Teddy was quite sure he recognized him from the pictures Dad had drawn, even though he'd been just a boy then. In the pictures, he'd been wearing rags, and had a skull around his neck. Now, he was dressed in perfectly ordinary robes, and was wearing a tool belt.

"I'm Nate Blondin," he said. "While Harry's off saving the world, he said it would be all right - if you'd like it - for us to show you what Lupin and Tonks gave us all."

Nate talked when he had something to say, but Evelyn contributed most of the chattering conversation as they went through the sanctuary village. She pointed out the neat, slate lined paths that had been put down over the years - "Nate's idea!" she said proudly - and the village center, where the werewolves met each month to eat heavily before the transformation, which apparently helped dull the pain of it.

"It's turned into a tradition now," Evelyn said. "Everyone comes, werewolf or not. People bring dishes to pass. Doesn't make the transformation any more pleasant, but it can only help to feel like life on either side of it is going to be good. I generally dress up for it. It's something that always makes me happy."

Nate laughed. "Do you remember when Lupin brought that cha - "

"Charity box!" Evelyn said, laughing loudly. She sat down on bench. "Lupin didn't actually bring that, though, remember? He just let us hide it in that shed he was living in." She smiled at Teddy. "We thought he was so fancy, living in a real house sort of thing. We were all living in caves. We were going there to play before he started teaching us. And when we got a box of charity clothes and books and so on, I found an evening dress. I imagine it was really someone's princess costume, but I thought it was the most wonderful thing in the world. Lupin explained to me about how such a thing would only be worn at an evening dance, and then I got him to tell me all about dances and other such lovely things. I imagined myself in some grand hall, dancing with a prince or whatnot. It was the first time I realized there was a whole world out there. I wanted to learn to read and dance and do all manner of human things."

"Did Dad teach you to dance?" Teddy asked.

"Not then," Nate said. "Greyback didn't let us dance properly. He didn't allow any, er..."

"Special friendships," Evelyn said, glancing at Neil. "Greyback rather thought we girls belonged to him. But I'd prefer not to go there. Your dad _did_ teach me to dance, though, that last Christmas. He and your mum came here."

"Oh!" Teddy said. "I have a picture, I think. They came with a woman named Rachel, didn't they?"

"Yes. Rachel Berkowitz. And of course, Adelaide Robards. Your parents brought a lot of refugees through here. Those two were a trial. They did loathe each other."

"Hardly surprising," Nate snorted. "Given that they were both... special friends... with Gawain."

Teddy laughed, but shifted uncomfortably. Gawain Robards was his Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and a decent man. Teddy had a fuzzy notion that his marriage wasn't very good - he lived at Hogwarts and his wife lived in London - but he preferred to keep it fuzzy. "They looked very happy to be here. In the picture. My parents, I mean. Not Rachel and Mrs. Robards."

"Oh, they were," Nate said. "I thought they might just explode from it. Come on. I'll show you where we transform."

He led the way away from the village, along the neat paths. Neil followed along, looking dejected. Some of the houses were old, some clearly newly built as the children had grown up and chosen to move out of their communal homes.

"We were raised in a pack," Evelyn said. "We didn't really understand the idea of having guardians, though Valeska - Gabrielle's grandmother, I'm sure you'll meet her later - looked after the girls a bit. She's not a great one for boys, most Veela aren't, though she'll make an exception for Tonks's son, I'm sure."

"Here," Nate said as they reached a raised platform. "Those two pens down there - that's where we transform. Females on the right, males on the left. I built the platform so that the others can see if someone seems to have got hurt. It's too easy for there to be accidents."

"Do you use Wolfsbane Potion?" Teddy asked, before it occurred to him that it might be a rude question.

"We don't have anyone here who's qualified to brew it," Evelyn said. "So we just use the old fashioned ways of controlling it. Food, fellowship, good moods. Well, the oldest method, of course we don't use."

"Oldest method?"

"Eating people," Neil said, speaking up for the first time since they'd left the hippogriff nest. "Greyback said that's the only thing that makes the pain stop." He fell back into silence. There was nothing to say to that.

Nate sighed. "That particular cure is obviously out of the question."

The tour went on, through the pens (which were actually self-contained little forests, which Evelyn said kept their minds occupied through the transformation) and into a little Healing clinic where a woman with short dishwater blond hair was treating an elderly elf for a skin infection. Evelyn introduced her as Coral, another member of the pack, who was trying to get a proper apprenticeship in Paris - Madame Maxime was doing her best to help - but was, in the meantime, doing what she could pick up on her own here. A few more of the children came out to gawk at Teddy, and finally, they circled back to the village square.

Père Alderman was waiting there, on the bench where they'd been sitting earlier. He stood up with a warm smile. "Teddy," he said. "Coral flooed to tell me you were here. I understand from Vivian that Greyback has decided to make you his pen pal. Are you all right?"

"Fine, thanks. I think Greyback could stand a tutor."

Alderman laughed. "When they get him back to Azkaban, I may just take that job on myself. Purely out of Christian charity, of course, and not at all because I think it would make him climb the walls."

"Alderman's morally perfect these days," Evelyn said.

"Yes, my confessor is very bored." He made a halo over his head with his fingers. "All the penance he assigns me is purely for his entertainment. There's never any cause for it." He leaned to one side, looking around Evelyn. "Neil? Why are you hiding?"

Neil peeked out, then turned and ran.

"I'll get him," Evelyn said, and went after him, catching him in a hug and smiling at him until he smiled back. She took his hand and led him toward the neat house where the three of them lived.

"Evvy seems happy," Alderman said.

Nate shrugged. "The circumstances are terrible, but she's enjoying the chance to be a mum. I think she's right good at it, too."

This seemed a private conversation, so Teddy cast around for something else. "Is the one who wrote the book here? The book that the Beauxbatons girls like?"

Nate made a face. "He only comes at moons now. We're not thrilled with him."

"Hamilton didn't mean for that to happen," Alderman said. "It was never the intent."

"Then why'd he write the damned thing?"

"Gold."

"Hope he's enjoying it."

Alderman seemed ready to pursue it, then just sighed and said, "Blondin, you need to learn to judge people by their intentions."

"Didn't I see something involving 'good intentions,' about how to pave roads that lead to somewhere unpleasant?"

"How in the world would he have guessed that a pack of girls in Paris would think kidnapping and cannibalism were signs of refined sensibilities?"

"Because he wrote the moons better than he wrote anything else. Even _I_ thought the rest of the thing was boring."

They continued the argument, not so much ignoring Teddy as simply accepting his presence. Teddy listened with interest, contributing his thoughts on why teenage girls might have been interested - he told them about the Moonhowlers, and the students who liked them - which were accepted as equal to their own contributions. He asked if he could see a copy of the book.

"Why would you want to?" Nate asked, aghast.

"Well... they think one of the girls is helping Greyback. She liked the book enough to get cursed deliberately. She might like it enough to use it to find somewhere to hide."

Père Alderman raised his eyebrows, surprised. "That's a good thought," he said. "Do you read French?"

"A little bit," Teddy said. "Mostly spells."

"The French is advanced," Alderman said. "I'll go through it, though. Translate the passages that may suggest a hiding place. I'll send them on to Harry. You have a good brain in your head."

Teddy didn't press, though a part of him wanted to struggle through the French just to read something that one of Dad's students had written, about things that they'd all known. He guessed that they just weren't keen to have the book distributed any further than it already had been.

Uncle Harry came out a few minutes later with the older woman he'd been speaking to earlier. She smiled when she saw Père Alderman, then gave him a hug and proceeded to call him "Bobby" for the remainder of the visit. They were invited to lunch in Victoire's great-grandmother's house - a charmed building that looked like a forest on the inside (though one whose weather was always perfect), which Teddy recognized as the place where the picture of his parents had been taken all those years ago. Uncle Harry reminded him that Valeska was a Veela, and tried to warn him about her effect, but Teddy still found himself completely tongue-tied and confused, and was halfway through explaining how he was a secret Animagus who had orbited the Earth on a broomstick before he caught himself. Valeska seemed accustomed to it. Uncle Harry teased him unmercifully the entire way back to the Apparition point, where Teddy demanded an absolute oath on their very godfather/godson relationship that he wouldn't tell anyone, even Aunt Ginny.

He shook his head. "So you don't want me to tell your granny."

"No."

"And you don't think Bill and Fleur would find it funny?"

"I don't care."

"And you're sure I shouldn't send a letter to a certain Miss Scrimgeour?"

"NO!" Teddy put up his hand in a warding gesture.

They reached the Apparition point, and Uncle Harry said, "I'm sorry, Teddy. They're all going to ask. Well, maybe not Ruth. If I don't answer, they'll think it was worse than it was."

"You just want to laugh at it."

"Well, yes." Uncle Harry smiled and mussed his hair, then rolled his eyes. "If you grow much more, I'm going to have to reach up to do that, and it loses something in the process. So I forbid it. Come on, it's time to go home."

"Can I go through the Floo from your house? I didn't say goodbye to James and Al and Lily this morning."

Uncle Harry held out his arm, and Teddy took it. A moment later, they came out of the darkness of Disapparition in the square outside of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. Teddy went in and played with James and Al for a few minutes - they were building a very tall house of Exploding Snap cards, and had got it seven levels up before it blew up on all of them. He gave them hugs, then went down to the kitchen to kiss Lily and Aunt Ginny, then Flooed back to Granny's.

The next week went by in a pleasant haze of laziness. Teddy put off all of his homework and enjoyed spending time with Granny. He helped her get her basement office in order, and they went into Granddad's "Muggle Room" - a room across the basement from the office where magic was prohibited and most of his Muggle gadgets worked without any interference. There, they spent an agreeable day playing with Granddad's aging computer and watching films that featured Muggle machines that moved fast and frequently blew up. Another day, they lost track of time entirely reading in the parlor while a cold December rain fell outside. Granny got through a large book on the history of Muggle medicine, and Teddy plowed through the first two Tirza novels. Now that he had the fourth, he thought he'd finish up _To the End of the Earth_ as soon as he got back to school.

Granny had dropped down to a part time schedule, but was still gone some of the time that Teddy was home, and he used those hours to listen to music and go through his parents' and grandfather's things, as he'd done frequently when he was small. After New Year, he settled in to do his work, and began to contact his friends again. He had a long chat with Ruthless over the Floo, at the end of which she reached into the fire and kissed him, ending with both of them nearly choking on ash, and Kirk, who'd wandered in, laughing crazily in the back. The call ended when Ruthless ran after him, screaming threats if he told anyone.

Corky's Portkey back from home was scheduled for the day before the Hogwarts Express would take them all back to Scotland, and, to Teddy's great happiness, he was allowed to stay at Granny's for the night. Uncle Harry brought him at six-thirty, along with Maurice, who was itching to get away from Wendell.

"If he asks the same question again, I'm going to kill him, then end up with all of my relatives in Azkaban," he muttered.

Teddy rolled his eyes and said, "Well, say hello to mine while you're there. And everyone else's."

The three of them spent a decent evening, during which Teddy taught them Tarot poker. The next morning, they left en masse for King's Cross, back to Hogwarts and the world they had made there.


	14. Speaking Lessons

**Chapter 14:**

 **Speaking Lessons**

The first year hex war began again in earnest within a few days of the return to school. Teddy wasn't entirely sure who re-started it, but as George had restocked Victoire's prank supply over Christmas, he had strong suspicions on the matter. Whoever started it, by the first Friday, Story Shacklebolt had sprouted a tail, Megan Twist (a Ravenclaw) had started singing everything she said, Chuck Senders of Gryffindor had developed a blue and bronze tartan pattern in his hair and retaliated against Leon Nesbitt by feeding him a potion that made him fall asleep in class, and Victoire herself had acquired warts and a hooked nose. Madam Pomfrey got everything fixed, but the Headmistress drew the line when an errant Gryffindor (Teddy suspected Kirk Scrimgeour) made the stones slick in the seventh floor corridor, which had ended with a pile of teachers falling over one another. The first years of both Houses were given a massive detention on the first Saturday back, Filch providing each of them with a mop and a bucket of soapy water, with the instruction to clean all of the staircases in the castle. On the way to Hufflepuff for Muggles and Minions, Teddy and Ruthless passed Victoire and Story, who were working together cheerfully enough on the staircase that led down from the Great Hall. Victoire was trying to explain that if the group could get organized and do everything in a logical order, they'd be done before lunch. Story seemed to be trying to convince her that her classmates might not take the suggestion particularly well.

Ruthless rolled her eyes and grinned, and Teddy reached out to take her hand. She seemed surprised by it. They had failed to find a spot on the first night back that wasn't already taken up by some other reuniting couple - Teddy's room would be private enough, but neither one of them suggested it - and hadn't really spent any time alone together since. Busy, Teddy guessed.

"So," she said, "is your godfather going to teach again this year, or just hang about?"

Teddy shrugged. "I'm not sure. I think he's skipped a couple of years, but I don't see why he'd skip this one, as he's here anyway. But it's usually autumn term."

"That's what I was thinking." She shifted her hand, and her fingers laced through his. "I hope he does. I like his classes. I think..." She turned to him, biting her lip. "I think I'd like to be an Auror," she said, then quickly added, "Don't tell anyone."

"Why not?"

"Because everyone wants to be an Auror. They'll think it's silly."

"Your great-uncle was head of the department," Teddy said. "And Minister of Magic. And he died to protect Uncle Harry, even though they didn't like one another very well. I don't think anyone would think it's silly."

She frowned impressively. "Don't tell," she repeated. "I might change my mind anyway. I might want to be a... I don't know, _something_ , instead."

Teddy grinned. "I think you'd make a smashing something."

"Well, it's certainly better than nothing."

They came around the corner and found the Hufflepuff still life propped open by the hulking form of Frankie Apcarne, who was hunched over his books. He'd come back from holidays to the horrible knowledge that his O.W.L.s were in only a few months, and Teddy hadn't seen him with fewer than four textbooks all week.

Ruthless let go of Teddy's hand and scooped up all of the books on the floor. "Come on, Apcarne. You'll definitely fail your O.W.L.s if they have to cart you away raving before June."

"I was going to stop," Frankie said. " _Really_."

"Mm-hmm," someone said skeptically from inside, and Teddy saw Tinny Gudgeon at a table, also surrounded by books, but in her case, they were Muggles and Minions references. She was apparently covering for Frankie's Urban Planner duties again.

It took ten minutes for everyone to arrive (except for Story and Victoire, whose characters were sent on a "shooting spree," which Tinny said was what Muggles called it when they had to go somewhere to make a film; Roger looked like he was going to disagree with her, but blushed when she looked at him and said nothing). Instead of an enemy, Tinny had made up a very large disaster, which involved floods, fires, and - she revealed this with an air of hard-earned wisdom - something called an "imminent nuclear meltdown." Teddy, Ruthless, and Donzo were assigned this last, and spent the afternoon rolling to get by guards who didn't believe that there was a problem and to get past all sorts of electronic security systems and avoid something called radiation sickness. Roger explained this as something like picking up symptoms from a Cursed object, except that the object didn't _mean_ to do it, and had some practical use beyond cursing. The other groups worked on other fronts.

Ruthless offered to go get lunch, but took Maurice and Bernice with her instead of Teddy. Zachary declared this a godsend, as it meant they might get lunch before it was cold. There was some merriment at Teddy's expense, but it was good-natured. Teddy was beginning to feel like an elder statesman in the girlfriend-having business, even if he _hadn't_ kissed Ruthless since they'd both ended up with their mouths full of ashes.

Once the game was over, Ruthless decided to go flying around the grounds, and Teddy decided to practice his balance, as Dudley had suggested. He went down to the rocky shore of the lake and started going backward and forward on the lumpy surface. He couldn't keep his arms from pinwheeling at all, and ended up sitting in shallow, near freezing water when a stone turned under his foot. When he got back to Gryffindor Tower, he huddled up by the fire to get warm. Victoire and Kirk were either doing their homework or strategizing for the next round against Ravenclaw. He decided it was the latter when Chuck Senders came over, looking determined, with several paper tags sticking out of his Charms book. The first year girls had apparently been inspired by the detention to join the war, if they were going to be punished for it anyway, as Mina Moran appeared from the girls' staircase dragging Victoire's trunk a moment later.

Teddy listened to them for a while, wishing he were in their year and participating, mostly waiting for Ruthless to get back. He finally saw her come through the portrait hole, but she just waved to him and went on up to her room.

He frowned, ill at ease.

His jeans were dry now and his face quite toasty, so he went up to his room. Checkmate begged for a game of chase. He picked up her favorite charmer and played with it aimlessly, finally securing it under his mattress and setting the string to wave around magically while Checkmate bounced at it. He took Dad's wedding ring from the chain on his neck, set it on a blank piece of parchment, and worked its Charm, hoping that one or the other of his parents would have helpfully supplied a memory about not getting a kiss for two weeks and then being waved to across the common room, to see if it meant anything ominous. Of course, there was no such memory - they'd saved their happiest and most important memories for him, and sometimes other things had got dragged along (Dad's new spell hadn't worked perfectly, which Teddy thought an improvement over perfection in this case), but confusion over someone's behavior didn't really fit either category.

The best it could do was bringing Teddy to a memory he'd had once before, a day with the Marauders in Hogsmeade, obtaining some used furniture from Madam Rosmerta which they would later use to furnish their dormitory. He supposed the ring chose that memory because James Potter had been musing over the Meaning of Lily, but they were all quite mystified, and therefore had no help to offer whatsoever. He was beginning to wonder if the Marauders weren't all a bit clueless about girls. Despite Sirius's swaggering, even he never seemed to know what they were thinking, and if he got confused enough, he just moved on to someone simpler.

Through Dad's teenage eyes - Teddy sensed that he was fourteen in this memory - he saw James hoist a chair onto his shoulders as they trudged back toward school. Sirius had the other chair, and Dad and Peter were rolling a table. James sighed deeply. "Do you think she's right in the head?" he asked. "She's friends with Snivelly, and that can't mean anything good."

"Sorry, mate," Sirius said, "the House of Black has my perception skewed about what's right in the head and what's not. Can't help you."

"She doesn't care about Quidditch!"

"I don't care about Quidditch, either," Dad offered.

"That settles it, then," Peter said, "she _is_ crazy. Same symptoms as Lupin. Well... most of them."

After this, the memory faded into a snowball fight, the furniture pocketed in little protective charms while they pelted each other. The object became to stand on top of the table and defend it against the others. Dad won, and James and Sirius put him on one of the chairs, lifting it up and carrying it to the gate like a sedan chair, then dumping him unceremoniously down while they went back for the rest. The subject of the girl mystery was dropped; the memory ended, and Teddy was left without answers in his dormitory. He tried a technique from his Divination book to try and Conjure a dream of Mum when he went to sleep - a piece of parchment under his pillow with the incantation _Somnium Dora Lupin_ placed on it - but the dream it brought was as unhelpful as the memory. She appeared and they sat on either side of the table from Dad's memory, but she didn't _say_ anything after Teddy finished his question. She just smiled and nodded.

He woke up frustrated. Maybe he should try _Nympha_ dora. That might get her mad enough to open her mouth. He realized he was getting angry at her, which was a pointless sort of emotion, so he cut off the train of thought and decided not to try the spell again. She couldn't answer his questions because she was dead, not because he hadn't annoyed her sufficiently.

He supposed he could ask Granny, but he couldn't think how to write it in a letter.

In the end, he decided there was really only one logical person _to_ ask, so he waited until Thursday evening, waiting impatiently for Uncle Harry to appear in the entrance hall.

Instead of taking the Whomping Willow tunnel to the Shrieking Shack, Uncle Harry led Teddy out of the front gate, and they came to the Shrieking Shack through Hogsmeade. Uncle Harry stopped at the gate and smiled. "It's all yours," he said.

Teddy blinked, then remembered the keys that would let him in. He thought about wanting to get in and closed his fist three times. The iron keyring Uncle Harry had given him for Christmas appeared, looped over one of the rusty spikes of the fence. He picked it up, and let them in. He could feel some other Teddy, some shadow Teddy who lived alongside him, who had always come into this house this way. The windows weren't boarded - or under the illusion of boarding, as some of them were - and the last few Christmas decorations were still up because no one was really in a hurry to take them down. The shadow Teddy glanced up at the window of his bedroom, to see if anyone had been into his things, then ran carelessly up the path, calling for Mum, because he guessed she might have some notion about why girls did things, though he didn't hold out much hope, really...

He blinked, and the Shrieking Shack was just itself again, and he was standing at the base of the path with Uncle Harry. He really did have a question about Ruthless, but only the mice were inside to answer it. He sighed and went up the path to the door. The same key that worked on the gate went to the door, and he opened it on its squeaky hinges, unused for nearly fourteen years (if then; he had the impression that his parents had mainly used the back entrance, through the garden, during the brief time they'd been here together). The Shack looked different, coming into it from a level, rather than clambering up from below.

The blood stain in the parlor still drew Teddy's eye. He thought about asking Uncle Harry for help in removing it, but he had a feeling the request wouldn't be taken well. He shook off the mood and tried to think of a way to bring up the problem with Ruthless, but nothing came to mind before Uncle Harry launched into trying to teach him to make his Patronus carry messages.

"This is generally done nonverbally," he said, "but I don't think you're ready for nonverbal spells yet, so I had Hermione come up with a good incantation. She thinks _Declamare Patroni_ will work." He raised his eyebrows and waited for Teddy to repeat it properly, then went on. "The message it carries is a matter of what you need. Try to keep it simple. The Patronus can't carry complex instructions. You can't really use them for long conversations. What I need you to be able to do is have it tell me where you are and what sort of trouble you're in - for instance, 'I'm on the Hogsmeade road. Twenty werewolves surrounding. Get here quickly, I can only handle ten one-handed.'"

"Right, I'm sure that's _exactly_ what it will be."

Uncle Harry smiled. "As long as you tell me where you are and that you need help, I'll get to you."

"How will I know if the message gets to you?"

"I'll show up, wand out."

"What if I'm behind an Apparition barrier?"

"I'll get as close as I can and run. I'll send my Patronus ahead so you know I'm coming."

"Won't that warn Greyback?"

"That's a good point," Uncle Harry said. "But I imagine he'll have heard and seen you send yours anyway."

Teddy nodded. "How does it know to go to you, rather than just flying around, looking for someone?"

"I don't know. But I've never had a Patronus end up misdirected. You just need to imagine the person you're sending it to." He thought for a minute, then said, "Go upstairs. Somewhere. Then send your Patronus down to tell me where you are."

Teddy went up to his room and sat down on the broken old bed that occupied it. It occurred to him to wonder why in the world the Shrieking Shack had been furnished - with broken furniture, no less - but there was no one alive to ask. He hadn't cast the Patronus since the first night, and didn't feel particularly good, but it didn't give him any trouble. When he said, " _Expecto Patronum_ ," the hawk flew easily from his wand. He watched it, then fixed his surroundings in his mind and said, " _Declamare Patroni_." The hawk swooped at him suddenly, racing toward his face. In a flash of white light, it disappeared.

A few seconds later, something white swirled on the ceiling and dropped to the floor. Prongs's jaw dropped, and said in Uncle Harry's voice, "It came, but said nothing. Concentrate on the words."

Teddy did the spell again, then said aloud, "Upstairs, in my room."

The hawk disappeared.

A soft pop in the corridor announced Uncle Harry's presence, but he was a few doors down. He came to the door and leaned on the frame. "This is particularly your room?"

"Well," Teddy said, "it would have been. Mum had started to fix it when they had to leave. I forgot that you didn't know. It had the words, then? Exactly?"

"If the exact words were 'Upstairs, in my room.'"

"They were."

"Then you have it. Well done."

Teddy cast the Patronus again, just to watch it fly around. It landed on top of the dusty old wardrobe where the boggart had hidden in the autumn. "I think it needs a name," Teddy said. "How about Wings? That's my Muggles and Minions character."

"Sounds good."

"I could use it on the Map, too."

"Mm-hmm."

"But no one really calls me that."

"I don't really have nicknames, either," Uncle Harry said. "Just not something my friends did. The Marauders are really the only people I've known who did that."

"McGonagall had a nickname," Teddy said. "It was in my grandmother's book. Sirius's Uncle Alphard called her 'Pallas.'"

"I can't even imagine."

Teddy fumbled for a connection to what he really wanted to talk about, and said, "Do you suppose that Uncle Alphard was going out with McGonagall?"

"What?"

"You know... maybe that's why he called her that."

"Er... I don't know. You'd have to ask McGonagall, because I'm certainly not going to."

"People going out sometimes do strange things, right? Like strange nicknames?"

"Excellent segue," Uncle Harry said, bemused. "What confusing thing has Ruth done?"

Teddy blushed. "Nothing really. It's just..." He bit his lip, then found himself telling Uncle Harry about the last kiss, in the fireplace, and the fruitless search for privacy the first night back, then the week with no kissing at all, and then the cheerful wave across the common room. "She's not angry at me, but I don't know what she's thinking! I looked in the ring, but the Marauders didn't have any idea, and Mum wouldn't talk to me in my dream, and..."

Uncle Harry held up his hand and shook his head. "One thing at a time, Teddy."

Teddy stopped, realizing that he must sound a bit mad. He shrugged. "I just tried a dream spell," he said. "Fourth year divination textbook. Nothing dangerous. It's to help you dream about something if you think you need to."

"I don't think that was in my book." Uncle Harry thought about it. "As far as Ruth goes, you need to talk to her. I haven't got any theories, and I'd guess she knows why she's doing this."

"What if it's because she wants to break up?"

"Is that what you're afraid of?"

"Well... yes. Everyone else has broken up. Roger's already gone out with someone new - Lizzie Richardson - and broken up with her, too."

"Well, you _are_ a bit young to expect to be with her forever. Whatever it is, Ruth is the best person to talk about it with. She's the only one it makes sense to. If I've learned one thing being married, it's that."

"Does Aunt Ginny ever do things you don't understand that don't mean she's going to break up with you?"

"If she broke up with me every time she did something I don't understand, I would be a very lonely man."

Teddy sighed.

Uncle Harry smiled, then fixed a shattered chair and sat down in it. "You're doing fine, Teddy," he said. "If she's not angry, then it's not anything you've done wrong, or that she imagines you've done wrong."

"But how do I fix it?"

"Well... I..." Uncle Harry winced. "I'm afraid I've run out of wise Uncle Harry advice. I don't know, Teddy."

This somehow didn't help. "Oh."

Uncle Harry looked at him for a long time, the good humor fading. "Teddy, you know what I'm going to say next."

Thoughts of Ruthless fled from Teddy's mind. "I'm not dwelling on dreams, Uncle Harry. Just trying to have them. That's all. Honestly. It's stupid. I know."

"No, it's not."

"Did you ever want to talk to your mum about a girl?"

"No," Uncle Harry admitted. "I had Hermione for that. And your granny, later. But the day my James was born, I wanted to show him to my dad. Introduce them. Ask him what I was meant to do next. I imagine he'd say I already had seven years of experience with you, but with you I had Andromeda as a safety net. I wanted my dad when I found myself without one."

"I thought it didn't bother you."

Uncle Harry looked surprised. "Of course it does, sometimes."

"How do you make it stop?"

Uncle Harry got quiet, then said, "It was worst right after the war. Everyone was celebrating, but I just seemed to go to one funeral after another. Your parents' funeral was the worst. There were so many things I realized I meant to talk to Remus about and never did. I wanted to call - " He stopped, seemed to consider something, and shook his head sharply. "But right around that time, Ginny and I were trying to fix things, and Ron and Hermione were getting their lives together. And of course, I fell madly in love with someone new."

"With someone other than Aunt Ginny?"

"Yes. Someone short and chubby with thinning green hair." He grinned. "Every now and then, someone will tell me how generous I am, looking after a poor orphan. They have _no_ idea. It's pure selfishness on my part. Why do you think I used to have your Moses basket on my desk when I was training?"

"Because Granny couldn't find another babysitter," Teddy said, raising his eyebrow.

Uncle Harry laughed. "Right. That's it." He sighed. "Teddy, what I'm saying is that... well, that place where they're not there, it's not going to get any smaller. But it's not going to stop hurting if you gnaw at it all the time. The only way for it to heal is to leave it be a little bit, and concentrate on loving the people you've got around you. Otherwise, it'll drive you mad, because you can't do anything about it. It doesn't mean that you don't care, or you've forgotten."

Teddy nodded. "All right."

"Do you think we've had enough of a serious conversation for the night?"

"Oh, yes."

"Good. Let's see if we can get this floor straightened out. This is pretty bad."

They spent the next hour getting the floor boards in Teddy's room to lie flat, and fixing the furniture. Uncle Harry had bought new fittings and fixtures as part of the Christmas present, and Teddy replaced the doorknob while Uncle Harry put up a new chandelier. Teddy was pleasantly tired as they made their way back to Hogwarts, talking about a Quidditch game Uncle Harry had taken James to, and the Gryffindor team's prospects for the cup this year. Part of Teddy's mind was engaged in this, the other part was turning over what they'd talked about earlier. When Uncle Harry left him at the door, he let it turn back again.

It hadn't occurred to him that Uncle Harry still thought about his parents and felt them missing, though he supposed he should have guessed it while they were working on the Marauder's Map together. Professor Longbottom had once told him about saving bubble gum wrappers that his mum had given him. Granny would sometimes break into tears for no reason. His cousin Draco had tried to kill someone to avenge his father. Voldemort had tried to destroy the world over it. And of course, Teddy had his own collection, his box of Marauder nonsense collected over the years, his searching not only for Mum and Dad, but also for Sirius Black, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew.

Something was trying to come together in his mind; instead of going back to Gryffindor Tower, where it was noisy and crowded, he checked the Marauder's Map for an empty classroom. Professor Firenze was just leaving, and classroom eleven was empty.

He went inside. It was still Charmed to show the forest. There was a pool of water. He prodded it with his wand. " _Indicare._ "

The water went cloudy, and a face swam up from it, muddy and unclear, but recognizable.

Greyback.

He was missing a father as well. He'd become a werewolf to fill the hole. Was he still collecting things? Trying to connect? Going places that would matter, just as Teddy went to the Shrieking Shack?

He went back to Gryffindor Tower, not pausing in the Common Room. He could only think of one person who might know something more.

He got out a piece of parchment and wrote, _Dear Professor McGonagall, I was wondering about what you said about Astrid Greyback..._

There was a Gryffindor-Ravenclaw Quidditch game that Saturday, and the Great Hall was festive with students wearing their House colors. Slytherin traditionally supported Ravenclaw, so Corky and Maurice had blue and bronze rosettes on. Hufflepuff held to its custom of supporting Gryffindor, although there always seemed to be grumbling about being "more than Gryffindor's cheering section." Teddy thought this silly, as Gryffindor was generally Hufflepuff's cheering section against the other Houses as well, and they'd been evenly matched when they played one another, but he supposed it didn't matter - they showed up in scarlet and gold one way or another, and no one was in doubt of their loyalties once the cheering started.

Ruthless was in a state of high tension. She pulled him behind a tapestry and said, "I don't suppose I could have a kiss, even if I've been odd?"

Teddy obliged.

"Not bad," she said. "I think we're getting the hang of it, you know." She was nearly bouncing from foot to foot. "Are you going to wish me luck or not?"

"Good luck," Teddy said, as confused as he had been before, though less unpleasantly so. She went back to the team, and the festive pre-game activities at the table. Teddy followed, but got caught in a knot of first years, including Victoire, who were already counting up hexes and pranks to send at the Ravenclaw spectators. Glancing over at the Ravenclaw table, Teddy saw a similar group around Story. He thought it might be wise to skip the game, then decided that Ruthless wouldn't take it well. But he'd sit with the seventh years, he thought. As far from the mad first years as he could get.

An efficient looking barn owl arrived in the middle of this with a note from Minerva McGonagall.

 _Mr. Lupin, I'm intrigued by your question, and quite glad you thought to ask me. I've arranged to visit Professor Longbottom for tea on Sunday, and he's indicated that you are welcome to join us. I have asked Madam Pince to send Professor Dumbledore's Pensieve to the greenhouses, and after we've talked, perhaps you would care for a more direct look._

 _Sincerely, Prof. Minerva McGonagall_

Teddy wrote a quick acceptance to Professor McGonagall, and a second to Professor Longbottom. He was sitting at the high table, so it was just a matter of the owl dropping it off before moving on, but it seemed more proper than just running up and saying, "Coming to tea tomorrow, thanks."

He got it and nodded soberly in Teddy's direction, then rolled his eyes as the owl flew away.

The game took four hours, as the Snitch was being especially tricky. Honoria Higgs had somehow ended up commentating today - the days of a single appointed commentator had ended with Lee Jordan, and they'd decided to use the opportunity to make sure, in the future, that the commentator wasn't in either of the playing houses. The seventh years all seemed to have their group together, as did the second years, so against Teddy's better judgment, he ended up sitting with Victoire after all. She paid very little attention to him, as she was busy sending Kirk and Leon off with bundles of red and gold fireworks to sneak behind the Ravenclaw section. She posted Mina Moran as a guard to make sure no one was doing the same to Gryffindor.

Franklin Driscoll, one of the Ravenclaw Chasers, scored five goals early on, but after that, Ruthless made him her personal business, and he wasn't able to get around fast Bludgers for the rest of the day. Chet Fleming, a fifth year Gryffindor Chaser, was a right prat in person, but Teddy was glad he was on the team - he got four goals himself, so they were trailing by only ten, and Holly McKean, a second year girl who was new to the team this year, evened it up. "It's a new game!" Honoria said perkily. Teddy began to wish he'd brought Tirza and her pirates along.

Finally, Chet led a serious offensive and got Gryffindor ahead by fifty points. Unfortunately, the Snitch made its next appearance nearly on top of the Ravenclaw Seeker, and Ravenclaws took the game by a hundred points. The mood in the Gryffindor Common Room was funereal, and Teddy escaped it. He'd finished his weekend homework yesterday, so he took out _The Lost Treasure_ , the fourth and final book in the Tirza series. He didn't bother doling this one out in tiny swallows. Mum had enough of these stored up to keep him occupied until he got bored with them.

Tirza and the pirates had rescued Holt from the prison in Australia at the end of the third book, and they'd had a joyful reconciliation. Brock was trying to talk the village witch into marrying him. And of course, in the midst of this, the evil Malacquis family returned to its dastardly attempt to hunt down Tirza, especially now that she was pregnant, as her child, by some legal loophole that Teddy suspected was made up for the book, could inherit everything out from under them. They decided for some reason that the best way to kill Tirza without raising suspicions of foul play was to draw her into the protection of a poor little island colony in the South Pacific, lost for a hundred years but conveniently rediscovered as the book opened. It seemed to be inhabited entirely by helpless, good people who were trying to magically bring peace to the world. The Malacquis family, in tandem with a corrupt magical government on a nearby island - both made up - launched a war on them, and Tirza and Holt and the whole pirate crew had to go in to save them. In the middle of it, Tirza had a son. Teddy began to get a dreadful, sinking feeling, but kept reading.

Holt ran off to battle. Tirza was supposed to stay on the ship, but didn't. She ran into the battle and saved Holt from the dastardly Baron Malacquis. The islanders made their potion, and, while it didn't bring peace to the whole world, it did pacify the Malaquis troops.

They all lived unrealistically ever after. Teddy looked at the picture on the cover. Tirza was standing on a beach with her little baby under lime-green palm trees, looking out over a sea so blue it hurt to look at. Holt was beside her, his long hair whipping in the wind, flying out to join hers so it was impossible to tell where one of them began and the other ended. Teddy wasn't sure what they were meant to be looking at so intently, as all three of them weren't on the island until after all the danger was gone.

There was a knock at the door. He checked the Marauder's Map and saw Ruthless outside, pacing in small circles. He went to meet her, slipping out into the corridor outside (Checkmate protested loudly when he nudged her back in).

Ruthless held out a covered plate. "You missed supper," she said. "And lunch, too. I thought you must be hungry."

"I missed supper?"

"It's ten o'clock, Teddy."

"Oh. I've been reading."

She nodded. "Well, I thought you'd be hungry," she said again, and started down the stairs. It was a gesture very unlike any he'd seen from her.

"Wait," he said. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, why?" She frowned. "Are you all right? You look angry."

A flight below them, one of the second year boys coming up from the Common Room looked at them curiously.

Teddy took Ruthless's hand. "Come on. If it's ten o'clock, it's probably pretty empty down there."

She nodded. "There were only a few people when I came through."

When they got down to the Common Room, Teddy spotted a pair of chairs near the window that were out of the way and out of earshot from the fireplace, where Victoire and Leon were building something that looked frankly dangerous. He pushed the chairs together to make a wall and block their view, then sat in one of them. Ruthless took the other.

"Are you going to break up with me?" she asked.

"Am I going to...?" Teddy shook his head. "No. I just... well... you said it yourself. You've been odd."

She sighed. "My parents think I'm too young to have a boyfriend," she said quickly. "They like you perfectly well and they think you're a good choice so they're not forbidding me completely, but they think I'm too young to have even a very good boyfriend and I promised I'd think about it." Once it was all out, she looked at him nervously.

"Oh," he said.

"I think they might be right. I don't want to be anyone's girlfriend." She looked deeply pained. "But I _really_ like kissing you. _Really._ Even if we're not especially good at it."

Teddy couldn't think of anything to say to this, as he'd already used "Oh."

"And also, you're my best friend. Breaking up would be - well, you know. And what if we still want to kiss each other? I think I will for a bit, and I ought to stay away, as I've been doing, but that's miserable, because without you, I'm mainly stuck babysitting my little brother if I want company, and that means being bossed about by Victoire these days, and - " She sighed. "Is this why you were angry? Am I being one of those annoying girls? That's why I don't want to be anyone's girlfriend, it's turning me into - "

Teddy shifted in his chair and leaned over to kiss her, which surprised her into silence. He managed not to drool, and she didn't bruise or bite him. "I'm glad you were my first girlfriend," he said, then tried a smile, though he didn't really feel like it. He'd made a sworn blood oath to not be an idiot when it became time to break up, and he meant to hold to it, though he really wanted to start yelling at her, even though she wasn't really doing anything terrible. "Or does that break the googly-eyed rule?"

"Well, if we're breaking up, I guess the rules don't really apply. We might need new ones, though. Are we breaking up?"

Teddy nodded. "I'm going to go upstairs now."

"Are you all right? You look a little - "

"I'm going upstairs now," he said, then got up and left. He chanced a look back when he got to the base of the boys' stairs. Ruthless was standing by the chairs, biting her lip.

He turned away and went to his room, ignoring Checkmate's demands for play as he stacked up Mum's books and buried them at the bottom of his trunk.


	15. Dark Holiday

**Chapter 15:**

 **Dark Holiday**

Teddy dreamed again of being a cabin boy on Tirza's ship. He was curled up in his cabin, a scratchy blanket wrapped tightly around him. Through a porthole, he could see the island, where the Malacquis troops were laying siege. Outside, Tirza was pounding on the door, telling him to let her in, but he didn't move. At the bottom of the door, he could see her feet. She was wearing green and purple toe socks. He turned his back and stared out the porthole while she yelled. At some point later, a pair of pirates came in and threw him into a boat (it wasn't clear why they could get in when Tirza couldn't). They took him to the island, where Holt tried to give him a recipe for the Pacifying Potion. He lay down in the sand, but the sun wasn't warm, and the garish green leaves went dull and lacy with rot. The island dissolved around him, leaving him in the cold ocean, and he fought with the waves until he woke up.

He got his breakfast at the Gryffindor table, then took it over to Hufflepuff, where he ate with Frankie and Tinny. Frankie had pictures of his brother and sister from Christmas. Mac had got a toy cauldron ("Complete with child-safe moving flames!") and seemed to be trying to brew handfuls of tinsel from the tree. Carny had been allowed to have her ears pierced, and the pictures of her were all showing off about a million different pairs of earrings. Frankie showed Teddy the ones he'd bought for her, which were tiny dogs that actually yipped when pinched. "She says they're her favorite," he announced proudly.

Teddy suggested that they spend the morning having a jaunt in the Forbidden Forest, as had been a habit for his first two years at Hogwarts, but Frankie looked terrified at the thought of losing that many studying hours, so it didn't happen. Tinny rolled her eyes behind his back. Teddy went to the library with them and practiced Charms from a book called _The Outrageous Incantation Guide for Wizards_ , cheering himself up by managing to get a pair of quills to turn into small swords which dueled one another for everyone's entertainment, at least until Madam Pince came over and raved about them being dangerous, just because Tinny had a little cut on her hand from trying to direct them, and had bled on one of the books.

After lunch, he went back to Gryffindor Tower. Checkmate was frantic, and he saw her paw jutting out from under the door even before he opened it. She clawed at his jeans until he picked her up, then purred directly into his ear.

"Oh, come on, Checks," he said. "I'm sorry. Really. I didn't mean to - "

But he had to close his mouth on the apology, as she had decided that his face needed grooming, and he preferred to not have her decide to brush his teeth for him. It didn't seem very nice to make her stop after ignoring her for days, so he let her keep going, even though her coarse tongue felt like it was scraping off his skin, until she tired of it on her own. She dug her claws into the shoulder of his robes, and wouldn't let him put her down. He read ahead in his Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook for an hour or so, scratching her between her shoulder blades while she purred. At three, he decided he'd do well to wear a clean uniform to tea with Professors Longbottom and McGonagall, but Checkmate had to be pried away, and still cried pitifully while he changed. He felt quite guilty about leaving her alone again. On a whim, he promised her that he'd be right back, and went down to the Common Room and waited at the bottom of the girls' stairs. Mina Moran came down a minute later, and he asked if she could send Victoire.

Victoire appeared, looking confused. "What is it?"

"This is going to sound very stupid," Teddy warned her.

"What?"

"Can I borrow your cat? Just to leave in my room with Checks until I get back. She's been bored."

"Can I go up with him?"

"I won't be there."

"Yes, but you have the Palace of Peaceful Solitude up there, and I didn't finish my essay for Herbology. Couldn't I just use your desk while you're gone? The others are making a great racket up there, and the Common Room is a lost cause."

"What about the library?"

"I'm banned for a week. Madam Pince got caught in a hex I meant to send at Gavin Keane. It would just be while you were gone. Please?"

Teddy agreed to this, on the condition that she not invite anyone else in, and not rearrange any of his things or try to organize his homework. Or leave any pranks around. She thought these reasonable terms, though when she got there a few minutes later, her homework tucked between Bushy and her chest, she couldn't resist _suggesting_ that his homework would go more smoothly if he changed the way he had his book shelf set up. He narrowed his eyes at her until she held her hands up in surrender.

Checkmate and Bushy were happily grooming one another and Victoire had settled in at his desk when he left for tea ten minutes later. He saw her absently sorting the spare quills he had in a mug, but decided not to do anything about it.

He paused at the door of greenhouse three and straightened his robes. He hadn't paused at the thought of inviting an adult to talk to him, but now that it was upon him, he wasn't entirely sure of the protocol. At the back of the greenhouse, he saw Professor Longbottom stand up and wave to him. He took a deep breath, opened the door, and went in.

It was very warm inside, and the air was rich with the scent of soil and green things. Professor Longbottom was lounging comfortably on a chaise he'd Conjured, while Professor McGonagall sat stiffly on a wooden chair. Between them, there was a glass table of the sort one might put in a garden. There was a tea set and plate of sandwiches, and others with sweets and pastries. These were set beside a shallow stone basin with runic symbols on it. Silvery thought-clouds swirled around inside of it.

"I know you and Professor McGonagall have things to talk about," Professor Longbottom said, "but please have tea first. How do you take it?"

"Two lumps, and milk, if it's no trouble," Teddy said. The tea set went about getting a cup together as he sat down on a fringed ottoman. He looked at Professor McGonagall. "I hope I'm not bothering you."

"I'm retired, Mr. Lupin," she said. "That means that I find myself with a great deal of time on my hands, and I assure you, very few requests strike me as bothersome. Yours I find rather interesting. I wasn't sure whether you cared to share it with Professor Longbottom or not."

"I admit that I'm curious," Professor Longbottom said.

Teddy shrugged. "It's probably just a stupid idea. But I thought... well, I thought Greyback might be hiding somewhere he would have heard about from his mother, and I don't know anyone else who knew her."

"That makes sense to me." Professor Longbottom offered him a plate of pastries. "Did you tell Harry?"

"Not yet." Teddy selected a promising-looking custard cream, and plucked his tea from the air. "It might not even be anything."

"Well, we'll see, won't we?" McGonagall said, smiling thinly. "I admit, I do enjoy a chance to be here."

"Miss it, do you?" Professor Longbottom asked.

"After more than forty years of my life? Of course I do."

Teddy let their conversation go on around him, answering questions when they were asked, sometimes filling Professor McGonagall in on life in Gryffindor (Professor Longbottom pretended not to hear some of this). When the sandwiches and pastries were gone, they were all quite comfortable, and Teddy felt part of it. Professor Longbottom got to his feet and said, "Well, it's been quite nice - we really must do this again, Professor McGonagall - but I have essays to mark in my office, and I believe you and Teddy have work to do. Feel free to stay as long as you need to. Unless it's past curfew, of course." He nodded and left.

Professor McGonagall waited for him to close the door, then asked, "Have you ever used a Pensieve? I seem to recall that your grandfather owned one..."

Teddy shook his head. "They smashed it when they destroyed his office at St. Mungo's. The Death Eaters, I mean, when they accused him of stealing magic. Granny put it back together after the war, but the spell was broken."

She wrinkled her nose. "How petty. I'm sorry about that. I assume you're aware of how the Pensieve works?"

"Yes."

"Well, I've taken my memories already. We'll just enter them. We'll begin the day I first met Astrid, though there are a few other memories there. And Mr. Lupin, I must warn you that I softened the story somewhat in my telling. Nothing involving Fenrir Greyback is a gentle tale."

"I understand."

She nodded, and pulled the Pensieve to them. Together, they leaned over it, and tumbled through the surface, into a dim stone corridor that Teddy knew ran from the library to the Transfiguration classroom.

"I thought I'd start a few minutes early," she said. "Only a few, but I thought there was someone you might like to meet, though she doesn't play a role in the story."

Teddy looked at her; she was smiling oddly.

A door opened, and a young Minerva McGonagall came out of it. To Teddy's surprise, she was rather lovely, in a very strict way, although she did her best to hide it with a severe hairstyle and fussy robes that made her look older than she was. She looked down the corridor. A girl was coming toward her. The girl had a Head Girl's badge on her robe, and had tied off her light brown ponytail with two ribbons, one blue and one bronze-colored. She was very thin, and had light-colored eyes.

"Professor McGonagall," she said, "Professor Dumbledore told me to have you come to his office. A parent is here."

"Thank you, Julia," the younger McGonagall said.

The older one leaned over as Julia went away, ribbons bobbing cheerfully. "That's Julia McManus," she said. "She's in her seventh year here. Two years from now, she'll marry her mentor in the archives - a nice older man named John Lupin."

Teddy smiled. "I think I recognized her. She looks like Dad with a ponytail. Thank you."

Professor McGonagall nodded, and they followed her younger self down the corridor, to the rotating staircase that led to the headmaster's office. Teddy had never had occasion to visit Headmistress Sprout there, but he had been there once before he started school, when Aunt Ginny had showed it to him. They reached the top. The door was open.

A man with flowing auburn hair and sharp blue eyes stood up behind the desk. Teddy had seen pictures of Dumbledore, of course - who hadn't? - but seeing him face to face was a different experience. He nearly crackled with energy. "Come in, Professor McGonagall," he said. "Madam Greyback, this is Minerva McGonagall, your son's Head of House."

He moved aside, and a woman rose from a chair beside the desk. She was tall and had curly blond hair that was pulled back with a decorative clip. She was wearing a Muggle style dress, and nervously chewing gum. "Has Fenny been naughty?" she asked. "I really do try with him, but he's so wild sometimes. And of course, I can't do magic. It's hard to control him when I don't have the same powers he does."

Dumbledore sat down again. "Please take a seat, Madam Greyback. We need to discuss Fenrir, who has gone quite a bit beyond naughty lately."

While the younger version of Professor McGonagall told the story of the girl Greyback had attacked in the Common Room, Teddy came around Dumbledore's desk to get a better look at Astrid Greyback. His glance happened down onto the desk, where there seemed to be a letter of resignation from a teacher, and a letter open, of which he could only read, "...what we discussed on my previous visit..." It didn't seem related to Greyback, so he looked back at Astrid, who was twisting a handkerchief in her hands as she listened to what her son had done. Teddy noticed that she seemed upset, but didn't seem surprised.

"Oh, dear," she said when Professor McGonagall stopped talking. "Is the little girl all right? I'm afraid Fenny has always played a bit roughly. A boy needs a father to learn these things, and I'm all by myself."

The older and younger versions of McGonagall both ground their teeth. "Madam Greyback, this is a serious problem. It's an expulsion offense."

For the first time, Astrid Greyback seemed to understand the gravity of the situation. Her eyes went wide and she sat back in the chair, looking very small and frail. "Oh, no," she said. "Please don't send him home!"

Dumbledore looked at her shrewdly. "I will assume that you are concerned with your son's future."

"Well," Astrid said, "I... of course! He's my boy. My only child."

The younger Professor McGonagall leaned forward, frowning, and the older one leaned over to Teddy and said, "Please remember that I was quite young at this point."

Teddy nodded.

The younger McGonagall said, "Is Fenrir's father able to help in any way? My own father - "

But Astrid Greyback was shaking her head rapidly. "He was taken by werewolves! _Werewolves!_ He's not really there anymore."

"Lycanthropy doesn't alter his essential humanity," Dumbledore told her. "If you could tell us something of him, perhaps we could help you find him, should you wish his assistance." Unlike McGonagall, he didn't look hopeful. In fact, Teddy thought he looked deeply suspicious. "Where was he taken?"

Astrid looked back and forth nervously. "I... is this... Fenny doesn't know this."

"Nor will he, if it can be avoided," Dumbledore said kindly, though his eyes remained wary.

"We weren't... properly married." Astrid's mouth twitched in a nervous smile, and she swallowed hard. "I don't think you'll find him. He was on the continent. During the war?" She gave Dumbledore a significant look.

Dumbledore sighed heavily and pressed his fingers against his eyes. "He was in Gellert Grindelwald's employ."

"Yes," Astrid said. "You must remember that, at the time, we thought differently. He said that there was a place for everyone, even Squibs like me."

"I am sufficiently familiar with Gellert's philosophy," Dumbledore said.

"Right. Well, my family... they thought it sounded like he had the right idea, with Squibs learning what we were good for. They gave me a holiday in a school meant to train me for life in the new order. It was to be something like a camp. I learned to chop potion ingredients, and help wizards who needed - "

" - who needed subjects on whom to experiment," Dumbledore finished.

"Yes!" Astrid seemed pleased at not having to explain a great deal, and not at all troubled by what he'd said. "I tried a potion that was meant to temporarily transfer memories once, and another time, I was charmed to see if I could be taught to dance prettily. It was quite fun at first. But since nothing seemed to work on me, they mainly put me in the chopping room. My fingers bled. I wanted to go home. It wasn't much of a holiday."

"I can imagine," the younger McGonagall said.

"The camp leaders - they watched us to make sure we didn't wander off and get lost in the woods - used to come through. They were often... friendly to us. I didn't like most of them. They wore these horrid fur capes. They smelled bad, like they hadn't been properly treated."

"Grindelwald used werewolf guards," the older McGonagall explained to Teddy. "That was, in his philosophy, their proper function in the world."

"I'm guessing these weren't nice werewolves," Teddy said.

"To put it mildly."

"One of them paid special attention to me," Astrid said, "and one day, he offered to help me get away. He knew how unhappy I was. We ran away to the woods together, and we stayed there for days and days. But then the werewolves took him away. I was locked in the cabin where we'd stayed. He didn't come back. I got frightened and I broke out. I was lost in the woods, just like they warned us. I finally came across a little cottage, where a witch and wizard lived. The witch brought me to the Zaubererreich, and they sent me home to England. They thought I didn't stay in my place." She looked down sadly. "I knew Fenny was coming by then. I didn't have a choice. I had to go back to my father, so I told him I'd been married while I was abroad. He gave me our little house before he died, when he realized Fenny was magical, and I wasn't the last in our line."

"And this is the story you've told Fenrir?" Dumbledore asked.

"I lied and told him we'd been married. Please don't tell him we weren't! I'm sure it was only because his father was a powerful wizard and wouldn't have been allowed to marry a Squib."

"What was his father's name?" Dumbledore asked. "Now that the Zaubererreich has ended, perhaps he would care to take a hand in his son's life."

"Oh, no. No, I'm sure he wouldn't." Astrid's face was deathly pale, her eyes preternaturally large.

Dumbledore seemed to have got the answer he was looking for, though she hadn't said anything at all. "When did Fenrir begin to play roughly?"

"Oh, he always did. Isn't that just the way boys are?" Astrid gave a watery sort of smile. "Please don't send him home. I'm sure he just needs a firm hand, like yours. You destroyed Grindelwald - I'm sure you can handle one little boy."

Dumbledore looked rather ill. "I'll consider what you've said." He looked up at a portrait. "Phineas, would you be so good as to find our Head Girl to take Madam Greyback to the gate?"

An irritated sigh came from above, and Teddy smiled despite himself as he looked up to see Phineas Nigellus, the never-changing, turn and stalk out of his portrait frame as though sentenced to the gallows. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Julia McManus came back and nodded politely to the mother of the child who would ruin her own child's life, then led her away.

"You surely don't intend to allow him to stay?" the younger Professor McGonagall demanded.

"I thank you for reserving that until Astrid was well away," Dumbledore said. "And in fact, I do intend to allow him to stay, after we've had a discussion with him. If he errs again, we will have no choice - he is a danger to other students - but I don't imagine he will become less dangerous when we relinquish him to his mother, do you?"

McGonagall straightened up. "He will be less dangerous to my students."

Dumbledore smiled faintly. "I always knew you would make a fine teacher, Minerva. But Fenrir is one of your students. Perhaps between us, we can undo some of the damage he's absorbed."

"Hmmph." She sat down. "She nearly sounded like she admired the Zaubererreich, after everything that happened to her."

"Of that, I'm quite sure."

"I can't even imagine..."

"Can't you? I assure you that Gellert would have found an appropriately high place in the world for a woman of your intellect."

The scene went suddenly white, and Teddy was thrown back into the greenhouse. The older Professor McGonagall, leaning on a walking stick, looked at him warily. "Did you find what you need?"

"I don't know what I'm looking for," Teddy said. "Did you ever see their house?"

She took a deep, heavy breath. "I did."

"May I see it?"

"Teddy, I'll show it to you, but I've grave misgivings about it." She sat down on the wooden chair where she'd taken tea. "Three years after Greyback's expulsion - for the incident a month after the attack on Twyla Dorne - the Wizengamot learned that he'd taken a werewolf's bite and become lycanthropic. A neighbor witnessed his transformation, and only kept him off by strong curses. He was called before the Wizengamot for failing to register, but Astrid came in his place. I was there to testify about his behavior prior to the bite. She said he'd run off, and didn't care to place himself in the Ministry's hands, and she didn't know where he was at any rate. They demanded that he appear for that night's full moon. She said she didn't think it would be possible. And they sent her home. He was of age, after all, and she could only be expected to do so much, especially if he'd left home. Of course, he didn't show up. But I found myself unable to sleep. You see, Astrid had looked quite ill at the hearing, as if she hadn't been sleeping. Her hands were shaking. And she had a great gash across her collarbone.

"I realized that he hadn't left home at all.

"I went to the Aurors, but there had been an attack the night before that they were certain of, and they had convinced themselves that it was Greyback, and weren't interested in checking on Astrid. Your grandmother's Uncle Alphard - he was a school chum of mine - was hanging about at headquarters, courting a pretty Auror whose name I don't remember, and when he noticed that I meant to go on my own, he insisted on coming with me.

"We were too late."

Teddy nodded, understanding. "He killed her?"

"Yes. And Teddy, if he was the werewolf the Aurors were after, then he killed Astrid before he transformed. It was... a messy kill. I don't know if I should take you there."

"I won't look at her. It's the house I need to see."

She still looked troubled by the idea of taking him, but, after what seemed a long time, pulled a silvery thread of thought from her head and let it swirl down into the Pensieve. She nodded at Teddy, and they fell back into the past.

The world that rushed up around Teddy was dismal - a run-down shack in the middle of nowhere, hidden from the world. The front garden was overgrown, but now dead. Scrawny pine trees, looking like the drawings of a clumsy child, poked listlessly against a gray sky.

The younger Professor McGonagall, who had just Apparated, paused with her hands on her hips, and a second later, a pop announced the arrival of a young man with wavy brown hair like Granny's (and Teddy's own, for that matter). It had to have come down from the Crabbe side of the family, but it was the only sign. His sharp-featured face and flashing gray eyes would have given him away as one Black or another, even if Professor McGonagall hadn't already told Teddy that he was the famous Uncle Alphard, who would eventually be burned off the tree for helping the as-yet-unborn Sirius make his escape.

The older Professor McGonagall looked anxiously at Teddy. "You'll keep your word, Mr. Lupin? And not look?"

"I'll try."

She nodded grimly. "And Teddy, anything else you may see or surmise, though not nearly as serious - might I ask you to keep it to yourself?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

While they'd talked, the younger McGonagall and Alphard had rushed up to the cottage, calling for Astrid. McGonagall stopped and pounded on the door. "Madam Greyback! Madam Greyback, it's Minerva McGonagall, I mean you no harm, nor do I mean harm to Fenrir."

"You're speaking for yourself alone, there, Pallas," Alphard said. He put his hand lightly on her shoulder, and pulled her back from the door. "We're coming in," he said.

He didn't wait for any answer. He just raised his wand and blasted the door into tinder.

He froze. "Oh, God."

McGonagall closed her eyes. "We're too late."

"We should find her," Alphard whispered. "Maybe we can still save her."

He didn't sound hopeful, and when Teddy got close enough to the door, he could see why. The kitchen they were facing looked like a firework had gone off in a bucket of red paint. The cupboard doors were spattered, the table covered with a bright splash. A thick scarlet rope snaked down the front of the refrigerator. Bloody footsteps - bare feet, but larger than Astrid's - led off toward a door on one side, a door that was slightly ajar. Through it, Teddy could see a bed, and one bare leg dangling off of it.

"We'll remain out here," the older Professor McGonagall said. "Turn your back."

Teddy did as he was told. She looked pale and shaken. Behind him, he could hear Alphard and the younger McGonagall - Pallas, he supposed - going through the murder scene. Alphard said, "My God, Pallas, don't you see it's pointless? She can't be alive!"

A moment later, she burst out of the room, covered in Astrid's blood. She leaned over the sink and vomited into it. Alphard followed. He put his hands on her shoulders and she turned to him. He hugged her. "I'll send for Aurors," he said, pulling away.

Pallas shook her head. "No, I..." She gathered herself. "I'll send a message. Alastor Moody worked with us in the war, getting people out of Europe. Dumbledore discovered a quicker way to communicate." She raised her wand and Conjured a Patronus, then said, "Astrid Greyback is dead. Fenrir missing. Come immediately." The Patronus - a cat, Teddy saw, which looked like her Animagus form - jumped at her and then disappeared.

"Nice trick," Alphard said dryly. "Possibly useful enough to share with the world at large now that there's no more need for secrecy."

"Please don't," Pallas said.

Alphard shrugged.

"Is the Patronus form always the same as the Animagus form?" Teddy asked, thinking of his hawk.

"Generally," Professor McGonagall told him. "There are exceptions."

"And if a person were to become a bird - a hawk, say - he could fly?"

She smiled, but didn't answer.

Pallas and Alphard began to talk listlessly about the war with Grindelwald, and within a minute, Alastor Moody arrived. He was their age, and, though it was years before he would obtain his magical eye, Teddy could already see why they called him "Mad-Eye." He had a wild, half-crazy look about him, and Teddy felt almost as though he could see the two interlopers from the future perfectly well. Moody told Pallas and Alphard to stay out of the crime scene, and they obliged by moving into a room on the opposite side of the kitchen, a dusty, cluttered room that had to be Fenrir Greyback's bedroom. Teddy had been thinking of trying to search the bloody kitchen, but if Greyback had mementos, they would probably be there, in his private space. He and the older Professor McGonagall followed Alphard and Pallas. Pallas took a seat at a work table; Alphard paced restlessly around.

Teddy began at the bedside table, where a dusty and nearly unused candle stood. Apparently Fenrir hadn't spent a lot of time reading after dark by its flickering light.

"Is there something I can help you look for?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"I don't know," Teddy said, feeling foolish now, no longer convinced that he'd find anything. It had been a mad idea from the start. Why would he have anything? His father hadn't even known he existed, and he _knew_ his mother. He wouldn't have the hole Teddy had, he wouldn't need to squirrel things away, and why would he want to, _his_ father hadn't been a good man, _his_ father had been -

He stopped.

He'd been moving aimlessly away from the bed, looking for a box of treasures or a lever that hid something. He didn't know what he'd intended to do with it, as he couldn't very well touch anything here, but he'd still been looking, ignoring Pallas and Alphard's desultory conversation about their school days and the Grindelwald war. But as he came around, he noticed that both Professor McGonagall and Pallas were looking with identical expressions of distaste at the most obvious thing in the room. Occupying nearly the same spot on Fenrir's wall that Teddy's poster of the sexy chemist occupied on his own was a poster of the ugliest building Teddy had ever seen, a black monstrosity of a tower jutting up among rugged mountains covered with scraggly trees. The photographer had taken the picture from underneath a gate over the road that led up to the building, and over the gate, he could see the words " _Zum Wohl der Menschheit_." Teddy spoke no German at all, but the poster had obviously been made for English speakers. He wasn't sure if it was meant to threaten or convince, but he knew the motto that had been written in now fading letters at the bottom: "FOR THE GREATER GOOD."

"Is that Nurmengard?" he whispered to Professor McGonagall.

She nodded. "When Grindelwald was coming to power, he had allies here. He wanted everyone to agree. He put out what he thought of as attractive posters. There weren't many who found that attractive, I'm glad to say." She considered it. "Though I suppose we were punished for our hubris about that a few years later by our enthusiasm for something even uglier." She turned to him. "Why?"

Teddy didn't answer, because he wasn't sure of the words for it. Greyback would have grown up hearing about Astrid's "holiday" near Nurmengard. About his father the werewolf, and the cottage in the woods. About her wandering for days before she found anyone.

"That's where they are," he said. "I mean, I think... I think it might be."

"Nurmengard is held by legitimate authorities now," Professor McGonagall said doubtfully.

"I know, but... the woods." Teddy looked at the poster again. There were miles and miles of woods around the prison. He couldn't know they were there, and even if he did, he couldn't know where they were in that tangle.

Except that he knew there was a cottage.

Days from the nearest home.

And he knew they were there.

Professor McGonagall seemed to notice that he had found something, and said, "Shall we leave here?"

"If you're ready," he said. "I don't want to rush you."

"They're my memories, Mr. Lupin; I can visit them whenever I so choose." She smiled at Pallas and Alphard. "And I choose to rather more often than I once did."

She put her hand on his shoulder, and a moment later, they were thrown out into the greenhouse. Teddy took a deep breath. "Thank you," he said. "I should talk to Uncle Harry now."

"Teddy... I'm sorry that you had to see something as horrible as what was in that house in order to find it."

"I didn't really look," Teddy said. He started to say that he was going to go to the gate to talk to whatever Auror was on security today, but then he remembered that she was his guest. It would be rude to just walk away from her. In fact, he wasn't sure _how_ to end the tea. Had she invited him, he'd just make his proper excuses and leave, but it couldn't be polite to just tell a guest - an _older_ guest - that it was time to go away now. He was burning to talk to Uncle Harry, but instead, he sat down and raised Professor Longbottom's teapot. "Would you care for another cup of tea?"

She laughed. "No, thank you. I believe I will visit Professor Longbottom's office to say goodbye, and then I'll return home. It's been interesting." She nodded to him and left. Teddy quickly tidied up Professor Longbottom's tea set, then started down to the gate, meaning to catch today's guard and ask for Uncle Harry, when he remembered that he had a better way.

He raised his wand. " _Expecto Patronum._ " The hawk appeared, and he concentrated hard on Uncle Harry and said, " _Declamare Patroni._ I have an idea about Greyback. I'm going to the main gate." The hawk swooped down, circled at him, and disappeared.

He wanted to say it was all right not to come if he was having tea with the family, that he could send his Patronus, but he didn't think Wings could carry anything that complex. He guessed Uncle Harry would understand that, anyway. Since he hadn't said anything about being in trouble, maybe Prongs would just show up and tell him that they could speak by Floo, or at his lesson on Thursday.

But when he got to the gate, Uncle Harry was standing there with the Auror Williams, looking serious. He opened it and came in. "What's this about, Teddy?" he asked.

Teddy told him everything.


	16. Mathilde Dubois

**Chapter 16:**

 **Mathilde Dubois**

Uncle Harry listened without interrupting, walking slowly through the Hogwarts grounds toward Hagrid's cabin. Teddy finished just as they got to the pen where Buckbeak was poking at a manger full of dead rats. They both bowed to him, distracted, and sat down on a bench by the wall. Uncle Harry knocked on the window to let Hagrid know they were there, but shook his head to indicate that they weren't there for supper.

"Why didn't you tell me you were doing this?" he asked when Teddy fell silent.

"I didn't know if I'd find anything. It might have been stupid."

"It might still be. You're allowed to do things that don't work out."

"I know. But I was worried that you'd end up wasting your time just because... you know."

"Because I love you?"

"Well... yes."

"Well, I suppose I'm glad you know I probably would follow up on anything you had in mind, though it means you don't consider me a brilliant Auror and infallible division head. I'm not sure I'll survive the blow." He smiled faintly. "I'm not sure how I feel about you getting this close to Greyback's mind."

"Well, I don't want to kill anyone or eat anyone, if it makes you feel better."

"Mmm."

Teddy bit his lip. "Is it any good?"

"Yes." Uncle Harry sighed. "You have good instincts. If you want a post when you get out of school - "

"No," Teddy said. "Thanks, but no."

"Well, if you rethink it..." He shrugged. "I'm going to look into it. It's not going to look like anything at first. Our relations in that part of the world have been a bit strained since Voldemort broke into Nurmengard. I'll contact Viktor Krum. His wife's brother is in their magical law enforcement department. He may be able to help keep feathers unruffled."

"They don't imagine we _sent_ Voldemort?" Teddy asked, alarmed.

"They don't especially care," Uncle Harry said, then shook his head sharply. "You don't need to worry about that. I'll take care of the politics. Now that there's some good reason I can give them for poking around in the forest, maybe they'll be a little more willing to help us, anyway. Meanwhile, will you _please_ get Greyback out of your head? I don't want him in there any more than he's forced himself to be."

"I can handle it," Teddy said.

"The point is that you shouldn't have to. Go play games. Do your homework. Snog your girlfriend."

"She broke up with me."

Uncle Harry feigned shock, then said, "Shall I arrest her?"

Teddy laughed. "No."

"Just scare her a bit, maybe?"

"Really, it's quite all right."

"Oh, come on. Just one nasty curse."

Teddy rolled his eyes, and the conversation about Greyback seemed to fall further and further away, until it was impossible to remember that only an hour ago, he'd been with Professor McGonagall in the past, in some impossibly distant world where Astrid had lived in her squalid cabin with her vicious son Fenny.

Uncle Harry walked him back up to the castle, where he was able to squeeze in for the very last few minutes of supper. Ruthless gave him a guilty look. He threw a pea at her. Her eyes widened comically, then she laughed, and threw it back. They didn't talk, and they didn't walk back to Gryffindor Tower together, but still, she did throw a pea at him. And laugh. The weirdness might pass.

He'd forgotten that Victoire was in his room, and was surprised by the flicker of candlelight until he remembered. She was still at his desk - the room looked mercifully uncorrected - scratching at an essay that was rolling off the back toward the floor.

"I'm almost done," she said. "I just need to put in something about Clabbert dung."

"What essay would work without Clabbert dung?" Teddy asked, pulling out his books and going to sit in the window nook. He left the door open, as Victoire was a girl. Checkmate disengaged herself from a play fight with Bushy long enough to attack his dangling shoelace.

"Do you remember the day it got away? Your Clabbert from Hagrid's class?" Victoire said.

"Sure."

"Well, it was throwing its dung, and some got all over Story. We decided to try it as fertilizer with our Jumping Juniper. It actually made it calm down!"

"Really?"

"Really! I think it's because Clabberts are danger-sensers, and that makes the plant know when it's not in trouble. So we've been getting Clabbert dung from Hagrid since September, and we've got quite a lot of information."

Teddy looked at her sprawling essay. "I can tell."

"Can I finish here? I think it's only a few more paragraphs."

Teddy supposed there were a hundred reasons to say no, but they all sounded silly in context. She was Victoire, after all. A girl, but not a _girl_ , per se. So he shrugged and let her finish up at his desk while he read a few chapters from his Transfiguration book. Finally, she made a great flourish with her quill and smiled in a self-satisfied way. "Done."

"Good," Teddy said.

She looked at him blankly for a minute, then said, "Well, I'll go then."

"All right."

She dried the ink on her essay, then rolled it up and tucked it carefully in her purse. Bushy didn't immediately want to leave his game of chase with his sister, so Teddy had to put down his book to pick up Checkmate while Victoire gathered Bushy. The cats furiously bumped noses.

"We should bring them to the Common Room more," Teddy said. "I think the Common Room is safe enough."

Victoire agreed that this was a fine idea, and promised to bring Bushy down every night, if Teddy would bring Checkmate. She left a few minutes later, looking put out about something, though Teddy had no idea what.

He thought he'd set Greyback aside, as Uncle Harry had told him to do, but in his dreams, he saw Astrid in the Headmaster's office, and her blood splashed onto the walls of the horrible cottage. He saw the child Fenny, whose face he could only imagine, sitting up in the Gryffindor Common Room, waiting for a weak child to come along. At one point in the dream, he saw his father, his grandmother Julia, and Fenny, all the same age, sitting in the chairs by the fireplace. They seemed to be ignoring one another, but someone had bound them all up together with tendrils of the Lionbloom. Teddy tried to scream for Dad and Julia to get away, but nothing came out. They couldn't turn, anyway, couldn't talk to him. They were both dead. Fenny, on the other hand, winked at him obscenely.

The next morning, he got a note of thanks for tea from Professor McGonagall, who chose to ignore the vast majority of their conversation and say that she enjoyed discussing his question about Animagus forms and Patronuses. She recommended several books which she thought he might enjoy on the subject. Teddy thought this strange, as he didn't remember being especially enthusiastic, then he remembered that she had been the Marauders' teacher as well. He wondered if, after she'd found out what they'd done for Dad, she'd gone to the library to see which Transfiguration books had their signatures.

He found that he wasn't curious. An odd sort of numbness seemed to have come down around him. He spent time with his friends, even got along well with Ruthless. He did well at his lesson with Uncle Harry on Thursday, and didn't ask about Greyback. He enjoyed a Muggles and Minions game that Frankie took time out from studying to put together. He trimmed a Clabbert's toenails and managed to actually see something in the water around his tea leaves in Divination, though Professor Trelawney was less than impressed with his prediction that she would lose one of her shoes on the way back from Hogsmeade. That it happened didn't improve her mood.

All of this seemed to be happening at a distance while he waited to know what had come of Uncle Harry's search. The dreams were the only things that felt urgent, and even they didn't seem _real_. Now and then, he'd find himself on Tirza's ship again, and she seemed to desperately want to talk to him, but he continued to ignore her. It was like being stuck between Floo points, in the place that was no place, except that here, he felt no wonder. He was just living in a bubble, waiting for something to happen.

The bubble burst on Monday, a week and a day after Teddy had talked to Uncle Harry. He was reaching for a carafe of orange juice when the post owls swooped in with the _Daily Prophet_ for everyone who subscribed.

The headline was huge, four letters that took up a quarter of the page: _RAID_. Opposite it was a picture of Uncle Harry, Ron, and a few other Aurors leading seven ragged-looking people across a windswept roof.

Teddy read the article, his numbness dissipating. Greyback hadn't been caught, but they'd found the main camp, and rescued several local children who were being held there. Thirteen werewolves altogether had been arrested, but only the seven in the picture had been extradited to Britain; the other six were being held in Nurmengard.

Everyone was excited about this, and it was the major subject of every class (except History of Magic, of course). Trelawney claimed to have foreseen it. Professor Flitwick talked about the Aurors' Charms and hexes. Robards explained how the Aurors had to have worked together. Hagrid gave them a break from Clabberts to talk about werewolves.

Teddy hadn't realized how frightened everyone had been until something happened that made them realize they _could_ take action against what was frightening them. The response - for that day - was elation.

It was the next day that Mathilde Dubois introduced herself.

When Uncle Harry came in from guard duty to talk to Professor Longbottom at dinner, there was a burst of deafening applause. Honoria Higgs pushed her way up to the high table and asked if she could interview him about the raid. He said he'd have to decline, since the investigation was still going on. He looked a little dazed at the confrontation. Before going out onto the grounds to patrol, he took Teddy aside and said that he'd told the press that they'd been acting on an anonymous tip, as Greyback had quite enough reasons to dislike Teddy.

"But they were there?" Teddy asked.

"Exactly where you guessed," Uncle Harry confirmed. "I wish we'd got Greyback, but we got a good lot of them."

Teddy went to bed feeling good and useful, and somewhat pleased at having a secret hand in it all. When he drifted off, he found himself on Tirza's ship again. She had gone off to the island, but Holt, for some reason, had stayed aboard this time, up in the crow's nest. Teddy tried to talk to him, but he was too far away.

He overslept and was late getting into the Great Hall for breakfast. At first he didn't realize anything was wrong. It was a little quiet, maybe, especially after yesterday, but it was a Tuesday morning, nothing particular happening. No reason for a great commotion.

He didn't notice anything was wrong until he sat down across from Ruthless, whose face was pale and set, and beside Victoire, who was shaking her head at the _Daily Prophet._

"What is it?" he asked.

"This isn't what happened," Victoire said. "It _can't_ be what happened. It's Uncle Harry and Uncle Ron!"

"It's what happened," Ruthless said coldly. "But that doesn't mean it's the truth."

Teddy looked between them. "What _is_ it?" he asked again.

Victoire handed him the paper, which was open to the center. A long article in small type appeared there, headed by an editor's note.

 **MINISTRY PERSECUTION OF WEREWOLVES** by Mathilde Dubois _The_ _Daily Prophet_ _received this communication late yesterday, via owl post. After much discussion, it was deemed newsworthy, though its sentiments are not representative of our editorial staff._

Teddy frowned. Across from him, Ruthless snorted. "Discussion," she said, obviously realizing that he'd read the editor's note. "More like trying to figure out how well their houses were guarded."

Teddy looked back down and continued to read.

 _The first known British werewolf, one Russell Marley, was captured in 1535 and sent to Azkaban, though he had committed no crime. Whilst there, he was deprived of moonlight, and died of injuries sustained by a violent, delayed transformation. Perhaps they knew no better then, they thought the transformation could be averted by denial of the catalyst. They've since learned better. St. Mungo's now provides a dismal hole in the ceiling of a London ward, where werewolves can change while bound to the walls or beds in heavy iron chains. The Werewolf Registry kindly places its two-meter square cages aboveground, in a rubbish-strewn alley._

 _Great progress overall, I'm sure._

 _Meanwhile, in the forests of Eastern Europe, a colony of lycanthropes has grown in more natural surroundings. Among the tree shadows and brooks and rivers, we have lived at peace with our neighbors, taken care of our own, and celebrated our lives, as every sentient creature has the right to do._

 _I can hear the outcry in Britain already. Werewolves! Murderous beasts! Unnatural creatures!_

 _I will take a moment to point out that, until the interference of your Ministry, we caused such deep trouble for our hosts that they were entirely unaware of our existence._

 _Yes, that's right. No ravening packs, no stolen children... at least not until ours were stolen._

 _Let me tell you of our vicious life._

 _In the morning, we awoke to the fresh open air. We hunted and foraged for food in nature's bounty. We worked together to build shelter and educate ourselves in magic, as those of us who were exiled by our illness before school age were denied any sort of formal education. I was lucky - I had nearly completed my education at Beauxbatons when I took the opportunity to join this group, and my education, particularly in magical modes of transportation, has been my contribution. And how poor it seems in comparison to what I've learned about living as I was intended to live! A charm that aids in Apparating is an amusing toy, but it can't be eaten._

 _Once our study was past, we socialized with one another, grooming each other, keeping each other warm in the cold. We were free of any political nonsense, free of any need we couldn't fulfill for one another - except for the need for freedom from persecution._

 _On Sunday, as we sat down to share our modest meal together, a force of armed wizards, led by the British Ministry and Auror Harry Potter (rather far out of his jurisdiction) invaded our sanctuary, gathered up several of our members, and stole orphaned children we cared for and sent them to be raised by strangers. This last is a deep blow, as lycanthropic women can't bear children of their own, due to the violence of the monthly transformations - these lost children were the only ones we might have nurtured. By what right does the British Ministry choose who may raise children, and how, particularly among those not even subject to its laws?_

 _That, of course, is the argument. The British Ministry complains that we have given sanction to Fenrir Greyback, who made the mistake of allying himself with the rebellion in your civil war nearly fifteen years ago. For this crime, he was sent to your brutal prison, Azkaban, where he was kept in a small cage, even during his transformations. He bore no Dark Mark, simply fought on the losing side of a war. Let no one imagine that his lycanthropy wasn't a factor in the decision to imprison him. The Malfoy family, which was far more deeply involved, which provided a haven to the rebellion's leader, is presently enjoying a comfortable holiday, financed by an untouched treasure in Gringotts. Their children have remained with them. Fenrir Greyback, who simply chose not to live under laws that mistreated him, was imprisoned for life._

 _And why_ would _he subject himself to your laws? Laws that bind us in iron, laws that deny our rights, laws that declare us "dark creatures" - and this is for those misguided lycanthropes who dutifully play along. If you believe I am wrong, I ask you to watch what happens to a Hogwarts staff member called Vivian Waters. She is a werewolf. She's concealed this fact. By the laws of the country to which she claims loyalty, she will be dismissed, unless someone makes special political dispensations for her, and that will only be because she has friends in high places. What is different about her between yesterday and now? Only what I have just told you. Even a werewolf like Remus Lupin, who fought side by side with Albus Dumbledore, was relegated to abject poverty, stripped of what property he managed to acquire, and if he had survived the battle he was forced into, would have been expected to continue barbaric registration procedures, and would be unable to hold the position for which he had trained._

Teddy stopped reading. The paper was shaking, and one of his fingers had shredded the corner. He could hear his blood pounding in his head. Nothing she'd said was untrue - except, he suspected, the part about no children having been stolen, and he was reasonably sure that Neil Overby would have something to say about that, though, to be fair, he hadn't disappeared anywhere near their camp - but the idea that she was using Dad to slur Uncle Harry and support Greyback's pack was... was...

"Teddy?" Ruthless said. "Are you - "

He shook his head. Beside him, Victoire put one warm hand on his wrist. He looked up at the high table. Vivian wasn't there. And he didn't think he was the only person in the room looking for her.

He gulped down a few breaths, and turned back to the vile article:

 _The representatives of this enlightened world of yours stepped arrogantly into a foreign land, using personal connections to gain permission from their lapdogs. They brutally stripped our brothers and sisters from us, gathering our children, screaming, from the only homes they knew. The last I saw of the child I was raising - a bright, beautiful girl with eyes the soft blue of a midsummer day - she was kicking and screaming as an ill-bred red-headed Auror Apparated away with her._

 _They tried to stop any of us from escaping by putting Apparition barriers up before they invaded, but, as I said, I have a talent with magical transportation. I was able to break through them. I suggest you all remember this._

 _You cannot expect to steal our children without consequence, to imprison our family without retaliation. Justice will come. We will carry it, but your Aurors are the ones who brought it on you._

Slowly, Teddy put the newspaper down. The threat of vengeance attacks, even the implication that she'd developed a way to get through Apparition barriers, seemed unimportant posturing. He'd make sure that Uncle Harry knew how she'd done it, so he could protect his family and Granny, but it was still his father's name, there in the midst of that bile that was caught in his mind.

The picture she'd painted of children frolicking at an ongoing picnic denied everything that Teddy knew, everything anyone knew, but it was fresh and new, and of course bringing up the Malfoys had been a good trick.

He looked back at the high table. Honoria Higgs was trying to get Professor Longbottom to talk to her. He looked very irritated. He was trying to get out. Teddy guessed he meant to go to Vivian. Hagrid was already gone.

Teddy stood up slowly, ignoring Victoire and Ruthless. He set the paper down and went to the high table. He could hear Honoria now.

"...true that she's a werewolf? Was it Greyback who did that damage to her face?"

Teddy tapped her shoulder. "Honoria?"

She turned - giving Professor Longbottom a chance to escape - and said, "What?"

"On the train in September, you said you wanted an interview. Do you still want one?"

He arranged to meet her in the anteroom outside the Great Hall after the afternoon's last class, and spent of the day thinking about the interview Uncle Harry had done with Rita Skeeter during his fifth year (and trying not to think of the disastrous one he'd mentioned from his fourth), which had changed the course of the war. He hurried out of Herbology - Professor Longbottom had been distracted, and kept looking out the windows - still smelling of sour fertilizer, and ran up to the castle as the sun set. Honoria was waiting for him, her dark hair up in a bun, trying to look very professional.

She spread out a piece of parchment on a table and held out her quill. "It's a BasiQuill," she said. "Like Quick Quotes, but without the style spells. It just records. You can test it if you'd like. Professor Slughorn doesn't allow Quick Quotes on the _Charmer_."

"I'm not surprised. How do I test it?"

"Just say 'BasiQuill accuracy test,' then say anything you want. Then say 'End test.' Then read it."

Teddy activated the Quill and said, "This is Ted Remus Lupin. Is this what I said? End test." He looked at it. It had recorded accurately enough. He looked back up at Honoria. "And you'll leave it as it is?"

"I'll make a story of it," she said. "I'm not going to just do a question-and-answer."

"I just don't want to end up looking like I said things I didn't. I heard about the TriWizard interview that Rita Skeeter did."

"Rita knows how to write a story that sells," Honoria said, shrugging indifferently.

"But it wasn't a true story."

"Well, Slughorn won't run anything without checking on it, especially from me."

"What's your angle going to be?"

Honoria narrowed her eyes. "You came to me, Lupin. Not the other way around. I'll be asking the questions. The first one is, why now? You haven't wanted to talk about this all year. Was it the article by Mathilde Dubois?"

"Well... of course it was."

"What can you tell me?" she asked avidly. "Do you know anything about the raid?"

"No. But I know about Greyback. He killed my grandmother's cat. He's been sending me little notes."

"Do you have them?"

"I have one. I burned the other."

Honoria frowned. "But you haven't actually met him?"

"Er... no. I met Mina, the woman who got him out of Azkaban. She showed up at the gate and said they meant to take me."

"Oh." Honoria took out a second, normal quill, and began jotting notes on another piece of paper. "After Mathilde was speaking from the inside, a couple of notes and a dead cat aren't going to get us far."

"What?"

"You read what she wrote. An insider's perspective. She was there for the raid and saw everything. I don't suppose you could get your godfather to talk to me."

"I don't think so..."

"What about Vivian Waters? Was she part of the pack?"

"My father and mother rescued... I don't know if I can talk about Vivian. Her story doesn't belong to me to tell."

"Could you get her to talk to me?"

"Are you going to make her sound bad?"

Honoria shrugged. "That wouldn't be very interesting. Newsflash, werewolf is bloodthirsty. No, we have to do what Dubois did. Someone nice and innocent and just trying to get along. Only we'll make Greyback the villain!" She said this as though it were a lightning bolt out of a clear blue sky.

"That's not very hard to do," Teddy scoffed.

"After what Dubois did this morning?" Honoria sighed, and looked a lot older than she was. "Rita told me once that she doesn't just write nasty books because they're nasty. She writes nasty books because everyone loves to find out that something they thought was true isn't. People are mad for gossip, and that's why. They can put things together in some new way that makes them feel smarter than they were."

"Smarter for believing something idiotic?"

Another shrug. Teddy had a feeling that she was quoting Rita Skeeter directly. "Smarter because _they're_ not going to be fooled by the 'official' story any more. So if you have someone like Albus Dumbledore, you write about how he was tempted by Grindelwald's psychotic ramblings - and probably his pretty hair, if you read between the lines - and people come out of it feeling like they've twigged to something. If you try to push the other version back, they'll get really defensive."

"Where does this come in with Greyback?"

"Because everyone 'knew' the werewolf pack was bad news and Greyback was thrown in Azkaban with the key tossed out for perfectly good reasons - "

"They _were_ perfectly good reasons! He's a murderer!"

" - but now they feel like they're smarter, that they've understood some deeper truth. When the person starts out bad, the gossip's always making him good. And they're not going to believe something that makes them feel duped again."

"But she's the one who..." Teddy slammed his fist on the table and stood up to start pacing. "They'll listen."

"To Harry Potter's godson?"

"He's Harry Potter!"

"But they know better now. He was a hero. Now he's an over-zealous Auror, at best, and Ron Weasley - and they'll all know who she meant - tears screaming children away from their innocent caretakers. They've wised up. And you're all wrapped up in that. Unless you've got more than a dead cat and a note, they won't care. If you have anything about what he did to your father..."

"I didn't exactly witness that, either," Teddy said dully.

"Did Vivian Waters?"

He looked down. "I'll talk to her. Will you wait? And if I get her to talk to you, will you be nice?"

She raised an eyebrow. "I think I can beat Mathilde Dubois at this."

"Seeing that you have truth on your side..."

"Oh. Right. I'm sure that will help, too."

Teddy looked at her with deep misgivings, wishing he'd thought twice before approaching her. She'd got kicked off the paper she'd started for being a vicious little gossip. Still, if she wanted to get back onto it, she'd have to impress Slughorn, and Slughorn wouldn't let her slur war heroes.

He nodded, and went upstairs to get his winter cloak. The Marauder's Map told him that Vivian was going into Hagrid's hut, with Hagrid and Professor Longbottom. He checked it carefully for any splashes of red, indicating danger, but there were none. He headed downstairs.

Ruthless was waiting by the portrait hole. "I noticed you had that determined look," she said. "Are you doing something?"

"Yes."

"Can I help?" She looked at him hopefully, and he wished there were something, just so he could let her know he was glad she wanted to, but there wasn't.

He shook his head. "I'm mostly an errand boy in it," he said.

"Exploding Snap when you get back?" she offered, with a tentative smile.

He returned it gratefully. "Sure. I could always use some of your money."

"You wish."

It was forced, but all right. He climbed through the portrait hole and scurried off onto the grounds. The evening was cold and there was a light dusting of snow on the ground. His feet left a dull brownish-green trail behind him.

It was deep dusk, and the sky was a glowing midnight blue. The mountains made sharp black shapes against it, and the lake stretched away like an abyss. The Forbidden Forest was fully dark, and Hagrid's cabin, at its edge, cast flickering firelight out into the shadows. As Teddy reached it, he could see the back of Vivian's head. She was gesticulating wildly. The window was closed, but he could hear her voice raised inside.

He knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Hagrid grunted.

"Teddy Lupin."

"Yer call," he heard Hagrid say, and assumed he was talking to Vivian.

A moment later, the door swung open, and Vivian, the unscarred part of her face a livid shade of red, gave him a distracted greeting and went back to pacing. Teddy had imagined that she might be depressed or upset. He was glad to see that, instead, she appeared to be furious.

"Close the door, Teddy," Professor Longbottom said. "This is family business, not school business."

"It's apparently _everybody's_ business," Vivian cut in. "The damned little" - she called Mathilde Dubois a name Teddy hadn't thought she knew - "and her stack of lies. Of course, she had to find time to tell _one_ truth. I'm glad I never unpacked my bag."

"Yeh're not goin' anywhere," Hagrid said. "Dumbledore didn' let me go. Great man, Dumbledore. An' he shouldn' o' let Lupin go, but I reckon he had his reasons. An' I'm not lettin' _you_ go. Reckon I need someone lookin' out for the grounds when I'm not here."

"I don't see where that's your choice."

"Yeh think I can't keep yeh here?"

Professor Longbottom smiled. "Hagrid, I don't think Vivian meant you couldn't force her to stay."

"Exactly. There are laws, and I'm breaking them. And if they let me out of it, everyone will know they're just playing favorites."

"What if everyone wants you to stay?" Teddy asked.

"Right. That's likely." She turned to him, looking apologetic. "I'm sorry, Teddy. The letters have already started to come. Professor Sprout didn't want me to see them, but I can see through the table. She'd got six of them before the end of lunch."

"So what?" Professor Longbottom said. "That's six. There could be six hundred - or six thousand - who _don't_ want you to go."

"I didn't see any of those, and as Mademoiselle Dubois drew the battle lines, it's not like any potential supporters don't know."

"They don't know _you_ ," Teddy said. He bit his lip, feeling like he was trying to manipulate Vivian into doing something that he'd thought of, but he couldn't think of anything else. He didn't think the _Prophet_ was going to send anyone, mostly because they obviously hadn't already. And Luna Scamander was off traveling again, so the _Quibbler_ was a questionable contact. Honoria Higgs and the school paper were their best bet. "I was talking to Honoria Higgs," he said. He waited for Professor Longbottom to stop looking shocked, then went on. "She wants to try and undo what Mathilde Dubois did..."


	17. Battening Down

**Chapter 17:**

 **Battening Down**

Vivian listened while Teddy tried to explain Honoria's position as well as he could.

"I didn't mean to bring you into it," he said. "I only wanted to do something because that" - he stopped himself from using the word she'd already used - " _girl_ brought Dad into it. I don't think he'd like that. Only when I went, she said I wasn't the eyewitness. Will you talk to her?"

"Oh, yes," Vivian said absently. "I'll get the others, too. I know Blondin's practically spitting. Alderman's not in an entirely priestly frame of mind, either, and Coral had to restrain Evvie to keep her from going after that stupid little twist. Evvie's been the one sitting up with Neil."

"You think they'd _all_ come?" Teddy asked. "Honoria can't leave Hogwarts - "

Vivian cut him off. "They're not about to let anyone into the Sanctuary just now, anyway. I'm sure I can get at least Blondin, Evvie, and Alderman. They were the ringleaders in the escape. Hagrid, may I use your fire?"

Hagrid nodded, and she went to the fireplace. While she was talking to someone in France - Teddy wondered how exactly that worked across the Channel, and thought he'd ask Kirley Duke the next time he visited Donzo - Professor Longbottom sat down across from Teddy and said, "This is all very interesting, and not a good way to take the target off of you."

"I don't care about that."

"Your godfather does. And your parents would."

"Yeah, 'cause all three of them were smashing at keeping the targets off them."

Professor Longbottom shook his head. "I'm going to let Harry handle that."

Vivian finished her call, and announced that her three friends, and - to her surprise - the author, Hamilton, would show up on Thursday after school hours. Teddy would need to arrange to have Honoria here at Hagrid's at six-thirty. He wouldn't be able to stay for the interview, as he'd have his lesson with Uncle Harry that night, but he'd heard it before.

Thursday was only two days, but it seemed, when Teddy got back to the castle, like it would be forever. The Auror Williams, on guard duty, had cornered a Ravenclaw fourth year trying to get out, and when Teddy came in, the fourth year was demanding to know if Williams intended to drag him off screaming. Williams looked less than pleased. Teddy stayed out of it.

He was less able to avoid the subject in History of Magic the next day, when Geoffrey Phillips, a Ravenclaw who had hated everything about Hogwarts since he arrived but for some reason hadn't left yet, began to quote Mathilde's article, and rhapsodize about the Ministry reaping what it had sowed. To Teddy's annoyance, Franklin Driscoll, who was normally perfectly sane, seemed inclined to agree. To his even greater annoyance, Geoffrey appeared to expect that Teddy himself would be going along with it.

"What they did to your dad - must've been rough, mate," he said with deeply fake sympathy.

Donzo jumped in. "I'm sure it wasn't ideal, but Teddy's dad was _against_ these murderers."

"What was he, brainwashed?"

"Civilized," Teddy bit out.

"But what kind of false consci - "

Teddy stood up, knocking his chair backward, and drew his arm back. Donzo caught him and sat him back down with a stern look, then turned on Geoffrey. "That's enough, Geoff," he said.

Binns, who was floating at the front of the room looking distraught, resumed his lecture about the Centaur war of 1153. After class, Teddy walked out with Donzo.

"Thanks," he said. "I don't really have time for a detention this week."

"Don't mention it," Donzo said.

"I almost forgot about Geoffrey. He's been so quiet lately."

"Yes, well, he's got a little audience now. Bunch of little girls who were reading about the poor ickle orphan werewolves."

Teddy felt queasy.

Donzo stopped, and reached into his book bag. "My dad sent you something when he saw that article."

"Sent _me_ something?"

"He noticed the bit about getting through Apparition barriers. He wasn't the only one, a lot of people are talking about it. But he wanted to give you these." He held out four sparkly black cubes.

"What are they?"

"Concentrated Floo powder. You can keep them in the pocket inside your robe. I guess my grandfather used to keep them." He smiled sheepishly. "He said he dragged you back behind the Floo at Christmas."

"I asked."

Donzo looked at him disbelievingly. "All right. He's very impressed with himself for teaching you something, anyway. Feels quite responsible for your well-being."

Teddy shook his head in wonder.

Donzo grinned. "Don't worry," he said, "I'm sure someday, you'll learn to tie your shoes and walk across the street all by yourself."

"I don't know," Teddy said. "Without seven or eight guardians, I might forget to look both ways."

"Anyway, carry that. For Dad. So he believes that if bad guys come for you, you'll be able to get to a fireplace, light a fire, and escape, and it will all be thanks to your mum's favorite band."

"I think if that happens, your grandfather'll become her favorite Floo repairman."

Donzo looked uncomfortable, and Teddy realized he'd just talked about two dead people in the present tense. They went on to lunch, and Teddy was glad when Victoire pulled him into a prank in the other direction.

On Thursday afternoon, he ate dinner quickly and went over to the Slytherin table. Corky waved to him, but he shook his head and went straight to Honoria, who was eating by herself (she appeared to have broken up with Brendan, who was currently splitting pudding with a brown-haired second year). She was quite untroubled and unhurried. She even let Teddy see the list of questions she meant to ask. "Professor Slughorn has already told me that if I write fairly on this, he'll let me back with no prejudice from before. Which is only fair, as I was only a first year last time."

She didn't rush herself through the rest of the meal, eating delicately while she made a few quick adjustments to her questions. Teddy sat idly at the Slytherin table, looking up at the enchanted ceiling. Corky and Maurice finally came over and entertained him for a bit. He didn't realize until he was on the way out, side by side with Honoria, that people were looking at him and whispering behind their hands. Ruthless was craning her neck, looking at him with disbelief. He shook his head helplessly, and she nodded, looking relieved.

"I have some pictures my dad drew of them when they were kids," he told Honoria as they walked down to Hagrid's. "Would they help?"

"Definitely."

"All right. I'll bring them back."

"I'm surprised you're not staying."

"I'm meeting my godfather."

"Yes... you've been meeting him. Private lessons?"

"Do you want the pictures?"

"Yes."

They went on without talking any more, going faster to keep warm in the chilly late January night. Uncle Harry was waiting with Hagrid, Vivian, and the others. Teddy performed the introductions. He didn't think Honoria could ever have gone into a room where so many people were happy to see her. She was just sitting down with the werewolves when Teddy left with Uncle Harry. They practiced the Patronus a few times, and Uncle Harry introduced him to a new defensive spell that was intended to unbalance an attacker. They spent the rest of the lesson disarming each other, though Uncle Harry said that Dad had got on his case about using that too often. "Worked in the end," he said, "but that was because of a lot of other magic that had been done. I reckon your dad was right about normal battles. Don't be predictable. And in Greyback's case, disarming him may actually come down to taking off his arms, as he doesn't exactly do his biggest damage with a wand. _Expelliarmus!_ "

Teddy blocked it with a Shield Charm, but the Charm wasn't strong enough to actually bounce back and disarm Uncle Harry. "Do you know yet how she got through the barriers?"

"No," he said, then Teddy's wand went flying from his hand.

"Hey! I don't know nonverbal spells!"

Uncle Harry handed the wand back to him and sat down on the threadbare old sofa. "Unfortunately, we can't count on people always using spells we know."

"Has anything happened because of that article?"

"Oh, about two hundred letters demanding that I censure Ron, and Kingsley's got a similar number about censuring me."

"Has anyone written nasty letters to Mathilde Dubois? I haven't seen anything in the _Prophet_."

"The _Prophet_ has some problems of its own. I was talking to Dennis Creevey - he was in Dumbledore's Army, he lost his brother. He's on their editorial staff. They've certainly received letters, but they haven't decided what to do with them. I told them to hold off. I'm looking into it. Interesting idea you have with the school paper."

"I don't want Vivian to lose her job."

"Hermione's working on that, but of course, everyone's saying she's using her status as a war hero to get special dispensations for a friend. It's a mess, politically. I hate politics. Have I mentioned that?"

"Once or twice."

They finished up the lesson, then worked on the living room wallpaper for a little while. It had been shredded, and a huge section above the mantel had simply been blasted away by magic. Uncle Harry didn't know how it had happened, but Teddy had once caught a reflection of it in one of Dad's memories. The memory itself was of walking through Granny's garden with Teddy in his arms, but all sorts of things that happened had been bound up in his mind that day, and one of those things was remembering the day he and Mum had been evicted from the Shrieking Shack. They'd sent all of their furniture to Granny's, and proceeded to put everything back to the way it was. Or that had been the idea. A portrait Dad had drawn of Mum had been hanging there, and in the fray, it had fallen, and the frame had broken and torn the parchment. In a fit of fury, Mum had blasted the wall. He'd had to drag her out before she tore the whole place down. She finally calmed down, saying over and over that they'd come back, it was theirs, the goblins couldn't have it, and so on. Dad had got the portrait fixed (it was in the corridor at Granny's now), but Mum always swore it wasn't the same along the line of the tear. Teddy didn't think Dad had meant him to get that memory, so he hadn't told anyone about it.

They finished up at last. The room still looked old, but it wasn't shattered and torn anymore. Teddy took down the drawings of Alderman, Blondin, Evvie, and Hamilton, and brought them back through the tunnel. Honoria was just finishing up when they got back, and was happy to get them.

The _Charmer_ ran on Wednesday mornings, so Teddy had to wait nearly a week to see what came of it. Students were looking anxiously around for Vivian, wondering if "that creepy werewolf woman" had been sent home. The newspaper was usually unheralded - a few people read Roger's column on all things Muggle, and Franklin Driscoll had started drawing a comic strip called "Hoggy Warty," in which various members of the staff and student body were represented by animals (Slughorn, of course, was a giant slug, while Professor Longbottom was an anthropomorphized lion), but mainly, it was something that only the people who worked on it read.

Until the Wednesday that Honoria rejoined its ranks, anyway.

That morning, a copy magically appeared with each student's breakfast. On the cover were the five pictures Dad had drawn, set next to current photographs of Vivian, Alderman, Hamilton, Evvie, and Blondin. Vivian's was in the center at the top. Two went down on either side. In the box they made, the headline was "GROWING UP WITH GREYBACK."

Teddy saw people open the fold with vague curiosity, then start to read, becoming more deeply engrossed as they went. The sound of breakfast that morning was the sound of turning pages.

Teddy knew the stories, of course, but no one else did. Honoria didn't hold back. She'd taken unforgiving pictures of Vivian's scars, and talked about the murders she'd witnessed before she was ten. Blondin talked about being taught to hunt by smearing human blood on rabbits. Alderman had got Hermione to Vanish the caps her parents had long ago put on his sharpened teeth, at least long enough for people to see them. "It was our souls Greyback was after," he said. "It was Lupin who got them back for us."

Honoria entered the Great Hall fashionably late, and Teddy stood up and applauded her. So did several other people. She manufactured a flustered expression and dropped a curtsy.

There was no talk of Vivian leaving after that. Students wrote to worried parents, and sent along copies of the article (the _Charmer_ had curiously printed enough copies for every student and the full staff, and still had many extras). The Aurors were also applauded on their arrival that night, and the next night, at his lesson, Uncle Harry told Teddy that they'd been getting owls all day from parents congratulating them on the raid and offering help. Better still, the Wizengamot had been inundated with even more owls, and these had been demanding that Vivian retain her post... and that the laws preventing her from holding it be permanently repealed. "According to Hermione," he said, "the longest and best ones were from your dad's students. Oliver Wood and the entire Puddlemere team made up posters that they've got all over Diagon Alley. Oliver's holding your Dad's picture in one hand and his Defense N.E.W.T. score in the other. They just say, 'Isn't it about time?'"

Teddy laughed. "I think Dad would like that. Am I right?"

"Oh, I think he'd bluster about and say that he really didn't deserve it. But he'd like it just the same. And he _does_ deserve the loyalty."

The euphoria lasted a few more days. The _Daily Prophet_ , chastened at being scooped by a school newspaper, ran Honoria's article, and the fervor increased. But the moon was waxing as they entered February, and people who had signed their names to petitions and letters were looking nervously at their own protection. The madly swinging pendulum started to go in a new direction altogether as they remembered Mathilde's threat: toward terror. Letters to the _Prophet_ started coming in, insisting that calamities were coming, that Greyback would be able to get anywhere while the Aurors were busy guarding Hogwarts.

Within the school, life went on, as it always had and always would. The nine minute wonder of a _Charmer_ article making it into the _Prophet_ had faded within a week, and when the moon was three days away, most of the school was back to its regular studies, much to Honoria's annoyance. She was sullen in Defense Against the Dark Arts on an afternoon three days before the full moon, re-reading her article instead of listening to Robards.

Teddy also found the speed of the whole thing disorienting. He'd wanted it to last longer, somehow, than a particularly interesting Quidditch scandal. Robards had got through the regular textbook early, as he usually did, and had moved on to his own particular favorite Dark Creatures. Today, he was talking about revenants, which resulted from a sort of accidental, botched ghost-forming. "It's rather like a piece of the soul gets caught on something and snags," he said. "It's aware of itself, but all it feels is anger, trying to rejoin the rest of itself. Most Muggle ghost stories are really stories about revenants. They - " He stopped. "Mr. Potter?"

Teddy looked up. Uncle Harry was standing in the door of the classroom, looking serious. "I'd like to speak to Teddy, if I might, Professor Robards."

Teddy followed Uncle Harry complacently halfway down the corridor before it hit him - Uncle Harry had _never_ pulled him from a class.

He stopped walking. "Granny - !"

Uncle Harry turned, his eyes wide. "No, Teddy, I'd have told you right away. Andromeda's fine. Everyone's fine. It's entirely a different matter." He blew a harsh breath out and ran a hand through his hair. "Sorry. I didn't even think of that. A million other things going through my head. But Andromeda's fine. Incredibly, unbelievably _stubborn_ , but fine." He turned up the stairs, and Teddy followed. "She's insisting on staying at St. Mungo's. We can secure St. Mungo's. It's not that hard to make a fortress of it, and there are former Aurors there who were hurt in the war, but can still help keep guard."

"Guard?" Teddy sighed as they turned a corner and headed for the Headmistress's office. "The full moon."

"Greyback and Dubois have more or less promised an attack. They know we'll defend Hogwarts, and it won't be difficult to guess that we'll defend St. Mungo's and the Ministry, so we think they'll go for soft targets as well. Defense is going to be somewhat complicated. Chrysanthemum." They'd reached the gargoyle that guarded the door to the Headmistress's office, and it jumped aside. They didn't talk as the rotating staircase carried them up.

The door at the top was open, and Teddy noticed immediately that there were several people inside who weren't normally at Hogwarts. George Weasley stood up as they came in. Beside him, Lee Jordan was lounging in a chair, and Ron was leaning on the wall by the window, looking dour. Fleur was pacing behind Professor Sprout, and a plain-looking youngish man with thinning mousy hair was fiddling nervously with a silver gadget Teddy didn't recognize. Behind him was Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Minister of Magic. There were no other students present.

Professor Sprout waved them inside. "Come in, Mr. Potter. Mr. Lupin." She waited for them to take seats, then said, "Mr. Weasley has hinted at what you've come about. And if it's what he's hinted, I hope you have a _very_ good explanation for yourself, because exposing Hogwarts to more violence is not something I care to do."

"Hogwarts is going to be targeted no matter _what_ we do," Uncle Harry said. "But Greyback and Dubois aren't Voldemort, and the pack is barely trained in magic. Hogwarts can be defended. We're also defending St. Mungo's. But we can't protect every household if Mathilde Dubois has developed ways to get through Apparition borders. They'll anticipate that we'll put our biggest forces here, but they'll split up. We haven't left them a huge group. The children we found near Nurmengard don't think there are more than a handful left. You have a trained Auror here in Professor Robards - "

"Two," Kingsley Shacklebolt said.

Uncle Harry gave him a confused look; this apparently hadn't been in the script. "Kingsley, oughtn't you - "

"My son is here. If people complain about extra hands being spent at Hogwarts, I can always say I'm being protected rather than standing a watch."

"Complain?" Teddy asked.

Kingsley looked at him. "There's a sense that the Auror Division may have more interest in protecting Hogwarts than protecting the country as a whole."

"Their sense is right," Uncle Harry said. "But practically speaking, it's easy to defend a castle. That's what castles were built for, after all. The most surprising thing we could do is not be here. Be out there. At least as Aurors. Hogwarts won't be undefended. The staff is top notch, Kingsley will be here. Ginny will come with the children - "

"The children?"

"Yes," Fleur said. "Zey will be easier to watch if zey are 'ere. I will be 'ere as well."

"That's what we need to ask," Uncle Harry said. "There are several families that are particularly targeted, and we'd like them to be safe while we watch the softer targets."

Professor Sprout shook her head. "Harry, this is... surely if the most targeted families are here, we ought to have an Auror presence."

"You _have_ an Auror presence," Kingsley said. "Just an unannounced one. And the presence of many veterans of a more subtle war."

"Meanwhile," George said, "I've worked more on the spell we used for the Hogsmeade weekend in October, so that people can call for help immediately if they need it. Anyone who wants it can come to the shop and get it free of charge. They'll be able to call the Aurors. But the Aurors wouldn't be able to Apparate immediately out of Hogwarts - they'll need to be outside."

Sprout considered this for a very long time, then said, "How many are you talking about?"

"My family," Harry said. "Ron and Hermione's children - Ron will be out with the Aurors and Hermione will be watching St. Mungo's with Bill. Bill and Fleur's children. George, Angelina, and little Freddie. Lee and Verity. And Dennis and his family."

"Alicia and Colin," the man Teddy didn't know said. "She's still weak from having him, but I'm bloody well going to be out there prowling about. I still think it's that perverse bastard who twisted my brother's neck."

"We'll set up a watch," Uncle Harry said, not arguing. "Lee and George, you'll be in the Owlery. Teddy, you'll stay with them all night."

"What? I'm to be babysat? There are other people he's more interested in by now, I'll bet he's even got a problem with Honoria, I'll - "

"Teddy. I'm asking for your trust."

Teddy fell silent, but felt mutinous. Uncle Harry went on with his proposal to turn the Great Hall into a large campground for the families. The doors would be barricaded, and adults would be on hand and on watch the whole time, in case Mathilde's spell was strong enough to Apparate directly there, though he found it unlikely. Meanwhile, other adults would be keeping watch - Lee and George in the Owlery (while babysitting Teddy), Kingsley patrolling the corridors with Professors Robards and Longbottom, the rest of the staff in their well-known crisis pattern. "You managed to keep me alive for six years here," he finished. "I trust you and Professor Flitwick and Professor Slughorn with my children."

Professor Sprout seemed to surrender. "All right. I don't like it, but I see your point. We'll defend Hogwarts. And anyone you put here."

"Good," Uncle Harry said. "I'd like to take George and Lee up to the Owlery - Teddy as well - to set up the best" - he paused - "viewpoint."

"Very well." Sprout shook her head. "This had best be the end of it, though."

Uncle Harry signaled to Lee and George, and they walked out ahead. Now that the meeting was over, they were reminiscing fondly about other trips to this office and punishments they'd received with the first Fred, George's brother. Uncle Harry purposely stayed a few steps behind them, and when they turned to head up the stairs to the Owlery, he drew Teddy aside.

"First of all," he said, "Greyback may have acquired new targets, but he hasn't been sending any of them love notes. He doesn't feel any of them are owed to him. You _aren't_ in the same category as the others."

"But - "

Uncle Harry held up his hand. "And you're not going to the Owlery for extra protection."

Teddy had been so busy forming arguments in his mind that he almost didn't register this, and didn't know what to say when he did, other than, "What?"

"I don't want you in this fight, if there is one," Uncle Harry said. "And you _will_ stay in the Owlery. I don't want to hear anything about you rushing off, no matter how much you think you need to."

"But - "

This time, Uncle Harry just stopped him with a look. "But if it were just about protecting you, I'd pull you out of school and send you to visit your cousin Draco in New Zealand. Or I'd send you on your own to Hawaii. Or Siberia. Viktor Krum has a Quidditch training camp there, and frankly, it's quite tempting to suddenly decide you ought to be a Quidditch star. Instead, I'm sending you to the Owlery with George Weasley, who once gave me something that's very helpful in keeping an eye on Hogwarts."

Understanding started to dawn. "They know about..."

"I assume they suspect, but I haven't told them you have it, or any of the new things you've discovered. But they know about the Map, and they used it - along with Fred - for years before they gave it to me. They've kept it secret."

Teddy felt dizzy and pleased - far from being treated like more of a child than the others, Uncle Harry was actually inviting him to _help_ , as if he were Ron or George or Bill or Professor Longbottom. He was looking Teddy straight in the eye, man to man. And he was giving Teddy a chance to _do_ something. Teddy nodded vigorously. "They can use it. I'll help them. I'll show them... are you really asking me to take a watch?"

"Yes." His face was pale and a little green. "I don't want to. I don't want you near this. But you _are_ near it. And I need your help."

By the time they'd got to the Owlery, Lee and George had settled in quite comfortably. George was feeding a mouse to one of the school owls, and Lee was propped in one of the glassless windows, one foot planted on the floor, the other on the sill. They were laughing.

"...decided to sneak down the wall and see Hogsmeade?" George said. "I told him he'd end up breaking his leg, but he managed to get all the way down to the lake before Hagrid got hold of him and marched him back up."

"As I recall," Lee said, " _I_ told him he'd break his leg. _You_ told him that you already had detention and couldn't join him. It was the thing with - "

" - Flint, right! I'd forgotten, you're right."

Lee looked over at the stairs where Teddy was standing with Uncle Harry, and smiled. "Teddy. Don't ever try to climb down the wall. Very dangerous." He gave a pious nod.

"There were no broomsticks about?" Teddy asked. "I'd have taken a broomstick. And I don't even like flying."

"I like the way you think," George said. "We'll have to have you in for pipes and poker soon. This summer, I think." He smiled. "Fred would be kicking himself just about now for not thinking of the broomstick. We were first years and didn't have our own, but it's never been hard to sneak them away from other people."

Lee turned and put both feet on the floor. "So, Harry... what's the real story with the Owlery? You can't really see in every direction up here."

"Of course you can," Uncle Harry said. "Teddy? Do you have anything that might help them see in every direction?"

Teddy cocked an eyebrow at them, trying to mimic their easygoing friendship. "Do you solemnly swear...?"

They raised their wands in unison. "...that we're up to no good," they said.

Teddy took the Marauder's Map from his bag and spread it out on a large crate that wasn't _too_ badly splattered with owl droppings. Dad's wand, tethered to it, thumped out onto the slats.

"How many wands do you _have_?" Lee asked.

"Just two," Teddy said. "And this one really belongs to the Map. It's Dad's. Watch."

Lee and George bent over the Map, and with some apprehension, Teddy used Dad's wand to open it, bringing out all the tricks the Marauders had saved for themselves. He looked up partway through explaining its ability to find lost things, and was delighted to see the men completely engrossed in what he was telling them, watching the magical item they'd used do things they didn't know it could do. George was watching with frank, open admiration, Lee with plain happiness. Teddy smiled. He hoped that, whatever was on the other side, the Marauders were all watching, and were happy to see themselves being properly appreciated. He imagined Dad looking a little embarrassed, James possibly exaggerating some emotion or wiping a fake tear of pride from his eye, Sirius puffing up like a popinjay. He didn't think Peter was with them anymore, but if he could see, Teddy imagined a place for him where he could think, "At least I did something right once." He didn't share these imaginings with Lee and George (and wouldn't share them even if it were just Uncle Harry here), but he did share it with the Marauders as well as he could, and a part of him felt them here, three more people in the room, bent over the crate, letting Teddy do their talking.

"...and it turns out that Dad bound Uncle Harry to it," he finished, "so Uncle Harry could bind me. I updated it. It shows the White Tomb now, and a lot of things that I noticed were different. I guess there's still a lot it doesn't see, but we can see everything in the castle."

Uncle Harry looked it over; he seemed happy just to watch the dots moving about with the names attached to them. "I also looked through Moody's dark detectors, and added a spell to warn Teddy when there was anyone around who meant him harm."

"Like Victoire," Teddy said.

George laughed. "Victoire?"

"She got a bit miffed at me and tried to set off your fireworks in my dormitory. I noticed them ahead of time and gave them back to her."

"Why was she miffed?"

"I don't know. She got mad when she found out I was going out with Ruthless. They don't like one another for some reason."

Lee bellowed laughter and sat on the floor. Uncle Harry and George were looking at each other oddly, and Teddy realized what they must think.

"No," he said. "Nothing like that. Really. I don't know what the problem is. They didn't like each other quite a long time before I started going out with Ruthless. And I think they still don't. It doesn't have anything to do with _me_."

This didn't seem to lessen their amusement.

George recovered first. "If you say so, Teddy."

Uncle Harry cleared his throat and pursed his lips against smiling. He got it under control and said, "Now, as to the Map. The warning spell is automatic when Teddy opens it, and it references him, but any of the werewolves in Greyback's pack are a danger to him, so they should show up in red if they're here."

"Right," Lee said. He got back up, looked at Teddy and laughed, then caught himself and said, "So they'll most likely have to Apparate before moonrise, won't they? Even with her special spells, they can't possibly Apparate after they've changed."

"I'm not even going to count on _that_ absolutely," Uncle Harry said, "though it's probably true. The Map doesn't see most of the Forbidden Forest past the spider's nest. Unless... Teddy have you gone any further? No consequences if you say yes."

"A little further," Teddy admitted. "Frankie and I found a cave last year. But not much. Most of it still doesn't show up. But I did go to where the gate was, that Mum and Dad sent the pups through. It's a neat little clearing, but it's close to the wall. There's still a lot of forest out there."

Little by little, their gathering started to feel less like an old friends' reunion and more like a planning session. Teddy wasn't the center of attention, but he was as much a part of it as George, Lee, or Uncle Harry. It was a good feeling. He hoped that, when he grew up, they would want him as a friend. He had the idea that they _could_ be his friends, just as much as Ruthless or Donzo or Frankie. He considered this a rather profound thought, though it occurred to him that it would be wise not to expose it to the light of day just now.

He walked down with them as the sun set, escorting them to the door as if they'd been there to visit him. Hagrid met them, and they disappeared into the shadows as they headed toward the gate.

Teddy went into the Great Hall for supper, and sat with Victoire and Ruthless as usual. He felt like telling them about his afternoon with Lee and George, possibly dropping in that he would be part of the guard on the school when the full moon rose, but he supposed that was meant to be a secret. He did tell them - so that they wouldn't worry when he didn't come back to Gryffindor Tower, of course - that he would have to help the guards with something. He slyly tipped the corner of the Marauder's Map out of his book bag - since they both knew about it, anyway - and they looked suitably impressed. He had a brief fantasy that Ruthless would say that she wanted to go out again, but she just settled in to do her Transfiguration homework. Victoire started to ask questions, but Teddy shook his head, hoping she would know it meant that it was all somewhat secret.

After supper, he went back to his room to make sure his work was done before this started, in case things got out of control. When he went to sleep, he dreamed himself back onto Tirza's ship. This time, for once, Tirza was on board. She and Holt and the pirates were preparing for a battle at the island.

"We need every hand!" she was saying, rounding everyone up.

Holt turned to him. "We need you in the crow's nest, Teddy."

"Isn't that where you belong?"

"I can't get there," he said, and Teddy looked down to see that his foot was in a cast. There seemed to be some reason why he couldn't magically repair whatever the damage was, so Teddy didn't question it. He obviously couldn't climb up the ladder to the crow's nest. "It's up to you. Go on."

Tirza ran over. "Are you sure? It's awfully high up there."

"It's the best place for him," Holt said. "And we need someone there."

"I suppose." Tirza looked at him, frowning. "You'll be careful, won't you? Keep to where you're told?"

"It's a bit hard to get down from there," Teddy said. "Unless I fly."

She touched his face. Her hand seemed to have a queer weightlessness to it. "Go on then," she said. "We'll be on the island. Everything will be fine. Be careful." She kissed his cheek, then rushed off into the thick of the pirates, where she was directing the landing party.

Holt put a hand on Teddy's shoulder. "Watch the shadows," he said, then turned and followed Tirza to a rowboat.

Teddy squared his shoulders, then climbed the mast, feeling the good warmth of the tropical sun on his straining shoulders. He pulled himself into the crow's nest and picked up the Omnioculars someone had left there. Looking through them, he saw the world as the Marauder's Map - dots with names floating beside them - but he couldn't read them all. He set the Omnioculars back down, and watched the rowboats dwindling as they leapt toward the lost colony.

He stayed above, keeping his watch.


	18. Wolf Moon

**Chapter 18:**

 **Wolf Moon**

The days were getting longer, but sunset was still before dinner at February's full moon, so dinner was to be held early that night. Professor Sprout had told everyone, of course, but it seemed most of the student body was still surprised when the door to the antechamber outside the Great Hall opened and seven-year-old Aimee Weasley ran out, closely followed by Al Potter. Al spotted Teddy, who was coming up from Potions with Corky and Maurice, and grabbed Aimee by the elbow to drag her over.

"We're spending the night!" he announced, then seemed to notice the others. He'd seen them, of course, but always forgot them between times. His bright green eyes went wide, and he grasped Teddy's hand.

"It's all right, Al," Teddy said. "These are my friends, Corky and Maurice. Is everyone here?"

Aimee inserted herself into the group. "We're all here. All my sisters, and Artie, and the Potters, and Rosie and Hugo, and where is Victoire? I want to see where Victoire lives!"

"Are you Victoire's sister?" Maurice asked.

Aimee nodded emphatically. "She's the very eldest of us, and she's very smart."

"I've noticed that about her," Corky said, then leaned down confidentially and added, "But I think you're prettier."

Aimee smiled so widely that Teddy could almost hear air going into her head, blowing her up so she might float away. She looked at Al. "I'm prettier than Victoire," she said. "He said so."

Al nodded somberly, as if he hadn't heard the entire conversation. "Is Victoire here?"

"I think she'll be coming over from Defense Against the Dark Arts soon," Teddy said. "Why don't we go in and say hello? Al, will you show us where your mum and James and Lily are?"

Given a task, Al seemed much more secure. He turned and tugged Teddy by the hand, back toward the antechamber, taking giant steps. "Mummy is talking to Kingsley and Aunt Fleur, and James has lost points for Gryffindor because he tried to climb the fireplace."

"James lost us points? He's not in the house!"

"Uncle Neville said he'd just have to take them from Gryffindor, as it's James's favorite House. James was very sad, but Uncle Neville said he could earn them back if he told stories to the little kids. Aimee and I know them all, though. So does Lily, but Lily and Hugo are playing Gobstones." He crossed the threshold and waved. James, who looked perfectly happy at the moment, waved from the tabletop, where he was having some sort of involved duel with himself while about a dozen smaller children looked on.

Then he noticed Teddy and stopped. "It's Teddy!"

"Go on with your story," Teddy said. "I want those points back."

"Will you make faces?"

Corky laughed. "Go on, Lupin. Make faces." He leaned against the back wall, and Maurice planted himself in a velvet chair.

Teddy gave in and went to the table. He sat on the edge of it, and James resumed his story, which seemed to be about a boy named Harry - "But not my daddy, this is a different Harry, who has _brown_ hair" - who, along with his very best friend James, was going after (of course) a treasure, which was hidden somewhere here at Hogwarts. Teddy made all sorts of faces for him, including Professor Longbottom (who knew all of the secrets), Victoire, Hagrid, and - Teddy guessed this was a last minute addition - Corky and Maurice, who were to help Harry and James go down to the Chain Ball of Secrets, which would roll off the top of a cave where the treasure was hidden. (Aunt Ginny, now listening, was laughing rather hysterically at all of this.) He finished it up, seeing to it that everyone got a piece of the treasure, and some of it was put back into the Gryffindor hourglass, to replace what he'd had to take to get in, then took a bow.

"Well," Professor Longbottom said, "you've earned the points back, and I'll give Teddy ten more for helping out."

Teddy acknowledged it as well as he could, though it was difficult as Rosie Weasley had climbed up onto his lap and started poking at his face, trying to see how it worked, and three-year-old Laurel Shacklebolt was pulling his hair. To his amusement, when he looked up, he saw that Aimee and baby Muriel had latched onto Corky and Maurice during the story. Corky and Maurice looked like they'd been caught in some sort of unexpected war until Victoire swept in, picked up Muriel, and kissed Aimee. Marie and Artie ran over to join them, and Fleur, who was now starting to look pregnant, came over and fussed at Victoire. Teddy extricated himself from the girls and went to Aunt Ginny. The boys followed him.

"Are all of you safe?" he asked her.

"Yes, Teddy, we're perfectly safe." She smiled. "I understand you'll be helping with the lookout."

He nodded. "Are you patrolling?"

"Yes. I convinced the Minister that Professor Longbottom belonged in his House, as the other Heads of House will be. I'll be patrolling the corridors, along with Kingsley and Professor Robards."

"Who's watching in the Great Hall?"

She smiled faintly. "We have it under control, Teddy," she said. "Fleur's in charge. I think I've got Dennis talked into staying with Alicia and little Colin rather than rushing off on his own" - she pointed at the Creevey family - "and Professor Robards has asked several of his seventh year N.E.W.T. students to volunteer."

"Is that enough? What about the others? Is that Mrs. Shacklebolt?" He pointed to a tall, thin woman with high cheekbones.

"Yes. And she's an experienced duelist. I've asked Hagrid to stay in here as well. If there's anyone on the staff who can handle a werewolf one-to-one, it's Hagrid." She winked. "Besides, with you and Lee and George on the look-out, they won't be able to surprise us."

Professor Sprout insisted that students eat in the Great Hall, so the visitors could eat in peace here - "The elves are having enough trouble keeping up with this without people being in the wrong places!" - and by the time Teddy had finished eating, nearly everyone seemed aware of the visitors. Students helped professors get the Great Hall in order for their overnight stay. Professors and N.E.W.T. students Conjured rows of camp beds. Donzo offered to play for everyone to get the little children calmed down. He was setting up near the high table, the enchanted ceiling a darkening orange above him, when Teddy ducked out. He looked at the Great Hall with lines of children lying down on their beds, adults wandering among them, looking disoriented, and had the unwelcome thought that this was what it must have looked like after the battle, when the prone forms weren't sleeping.

He shuddered and slipped out, leaving the room behind him.

Lee and George were waiting in the Owlery, and Teddy put aside thoughts of the crowded Hall downstairs. Lee spread a clean cloth over the crate, and Teddy opened the Marauder's Map.

"We've been talking about it," George said. "If they're going to use that girl's spell to Apparate in - or whatever it is they're doing - they'll have to do it before moonrise. Once they turn, they don't really have the brains to do it."

"Then maybe they're already here," Teddy said, poring over the Map, searching for splashes of red.

"Maybe," Lee said. "But if so, they're in one of the places the Map doesn't show. I think we can rule out the inside of Hagrid's cabin, just on principle, but there's a lot of forest, and we can't really see under the lake."

"They're not mer-werewolves," Teddy said, then remembered that he was talking to an adult. "Er... sorry."

George grinned. "We were reckoning on bubble-head charms or whatnot. And there's also the question of whether or not they'll show up as wolves once they turn. The Map doesn't show every creature out there. We can see your cat, Checkmate" - he pointed to the dot bouncing wildly around Teddy's room - "but we can't see the mouse I'll bet she's chasing."

"Hmm." Teddy tapped the Map with his own wand and said, "Teddy Lupin respectfully requests the wisdom of the Marauders on the subject of seeing werewolves."

"Does that work?" George asked.

"Sometimes." At the top of the Map, Moony tipped his head curiously, but offered nothing. "Apparently, not this time." He shrugged, trying to look like he wasn't deeply disappointed. "I guess we'll just have to find out. Is there anyone at the Astronomy Tower to watch the lake?"

"Professor Sinistra took the watch," Lee said, then waved his wand, sending off his Patronus. "Just telling her to watch the lake." He grinned at George. "I don't know about you, but I like telling teachers what to do sometimes."

George laughed. "It is refreshing, isn't it? Come on, Lupin. We have a good view of the edge of the Forbidden Forest from here. Lee can take the first Map-watch. You can start telling me all of the other things it does."

"I want to hear about how you found it, and figured it out without anyone telling you."

"Deal."

So they sat on the ledge of the Owlery, watching the Forest as the sky blackened and the moon rose. Teddy looked up at it, spared a thought for Dad and the pups, and little Neil Overby.

Then he heard it.

The rising howl, coming from everywhere, echoing over the water, bouncing from the very stones of the castle.

They were here.

"I can't see where they're coming from yet," Lee said, taking up a broomstick that was leaning against the wall and handing a second to George. "They may not be showing up."

George slid down from the window sill and took the other broom. He bent over the Map, and Teddy could see that he wanted it to be the key as much as Teddy himself did.

Teddy bit his lip and looked out over the grounds. The silver-gray of the moonlit grounds was wrapped in curving patches of black where the deep shadows fell. Beyond the turrets of the castle, wrapping around the east part of the grounds in a shallow arc, was the Forbidden Forest.

 _Watch the shadows._

Holt's voice from his dream came back to him, and awake, he knew it. Of course he knew it. He'd lived his father's memories for nearly two years, had spoken in that voice inside his mind. He trusted it. He didn't know whether it was Dad speaking from beyond or his own brain coming up with something and giving it Dad's voice, but either way, he trusted it.

He peered out at the shadows of the Forest, beyond the places where he had gone. It was shapeless black. He needed more light, better eyes. He wished he'd thought to ask Ruthless for some of her Clear-Eye Concoction. If it could turn her horrible eyesight normal, perhaps it could help his normal eyesight, make it more like...

His eyes went to the line of owls perched above the windows. Several of them were peering down into the shadows on the floor, looking for mice and voles foolish or depressed enough to take up housekeeping in the Owlery. Their eyes were huge, with pupils that nearly stretched the whole length of them. He looked back over the Forest and morphed his own face, letting his eyes grow, widening the pupils. The world flooded with eerie gray light. His eyes ached, stretched, then, out of nowhere, seemed to snap into something new. Lines took on great clarity, and he seemed to be able to see each tree in the Forbidden Forest. To the south, he could see one of them trembling, then another, then another.

"They're coming up from the south!" he yelled.

Lee and George ran over. George frowned out into the night. "Where are they - " He stopped. "Nice morph."

"Over there," Teddy said, pointing at the moving trees.

Lee and George trusted him without question. They mounted their brooms and dropped over the wall of the Owlery. "Send word!" Lee called.

Teddy sent his Patronus to Aunt Ginny, then leaned over the Marauder's Map. He saw Lee and George flying over Gryffindor toward the edge of the forest. The first sprinkle of red was starting to seep into the areas Teddy and the Map knew. A single dot appeared, not enough to account for the size of the red cloud. It was labeled Pierre Deschain, a name that meant nothing at all to Teddy. His eyes, still morphed, saw the Map in fantastic detail, its cracked parchment, even a kind of shimmering energy that seemed to infuse it. This seemed to leap, then the red cloud surged forward in a bounding leap, three more dots appearing inside it (Teddy knew none of the names; neither Greyback nor Mathilde was with the raiding party). They were moving too quickly, even for leaping wolves.

He sent his Patronus again, this time to Lee and George, with the message, "They're spelled. Magic movement. Watch out."

He looked back down at the Marauder's Map frantically, watching for any more spots of red. None seemed to be appearing, but the original ones were spreading out, ducking from what he hoped were nasty spells raining down on them. They ran up alongside Gryffindor Tower, slipped to the front of the castle, ran at the door -

Teddy froze.

The Great Hall was still crowded, everyone gathered around the dot labeled "Donald McCormack Duke," but now the dots at the edge were moving. Fleur Weasley. Andrew Stephens. Professor Sprout. Hagrid. Dennis and Angelina Creevey.

Ruth Scrimgeour. Victoire Weasley. And, following them like a faithful puppy, James Potter.

Teddy swept up the Marauder's Map and ran.

He passed the door knocker of Ravenclaw Tower and saw Franklin Driscoll poking his head out. He shouted something, unsure of what it was, and didn't wait to see if Franklin went back. He barreled forward, down too many staircases. He was at the first floor when something caught him across the chest like a blow from the Whomping Willow. He fought against it.

"Teddy, get back to the Owlery!" Aunt Ginny said. "I don't have time for this!"

"James!" he said. "He's headed for the door in the Great Hall! And Ruthless and Victoire!"

Aunt Ginny whipped her wand in his direction, then hissed in frustration. "I can't bind you to the wall, in case they get in. Get back to the Owlery!"

"But - "

"NOW!"

Downstairs, the great doors shook, and glass shattered.

"NOW!" Aunt Ginny yelled again, then ran downstairs. Teddy heard a dozen voices raised in spellwork, repairing the broken windows. Slowly, he turned toward the stairs, feeling worse than useless.

"Hold him, Gawain!" Kingsley Shacklebolt yelled, then swore at the top of his lungs. Something warm rushed by Teddy, then there was something gray and snarling on the stairs, blocking his way. A long runner of saliva dripped from its sharp tooth.

Teddy drew his wand. His hand knocked the Marauder's Map out of his pocket, and Dad's wand followed it. He grabbed it and held it beside his own, which had also been Mum's. " _Petrificus Totalis!_ "

The werewolf, which had been leaping toward him, froze in the air. Teddy jumped out of the way as it crashed to the ground. It was already starting to recover, even from a double spell. It whimpered, crept forward, its claws scrabbling along the floor.

He sent his Patronus again, with just the word "BLOCKED."

The werewolf pushed itself up on its forelegs, snarling and growling. Teddy leveled the wands at it again. He could hear his heart beating in his ears. His eyes had started to revert, but he could still see every hair on its pelt standing out in perfect relief. A flea crawled in the thin hair under its ears.

" _Petrif -_ "

It leapt.

There was no time for a spell. Teddy remembered what Dudley had said about not letting something bigger than he was get hold of him, and he dove, rolling under the arc of the leap, coming to a stop against the stairs. A sharp pain in his shoulder told him that he hadn't done it exactly right, but he was untouched. The wolf turned on him again.

"Teddy, down!"

Teddy ducked, and two brooms swooped down from the upper floors. Lee and George bent low over the handles, wands raised, and suddenly, a net fell over the werewolf. It looked like simple rope, but Teddy's eyes were still changed enough that he could see the tensile strength as the werewolf fought against it. George and Lee circled back around and the net flipped over, turning into a giant sack. The werewolf howled in fury.

"Is that all of them?" George asked Teddy.

Teddy couldn't imagine what he was being asked. Then his eye fell on the Marauder's Map, and he remembered. He ran for it, grabbing it up like a lifeline. The wolf here beside him, surrounded by a blood red haze, was called Konrad Altbusser. Downstairs, surrounded by guards, was Pierre Deschain, and just outside the Great Hall, in the midst of crowd of seventh-years, with Fleur at their head, was a third, named Lazlo Kalman. The last, Johann Otteson, had never even made it inside. There were no more on the Map.

"That's it," he said.

"Don't suppose any of them turned out to be Greyback?" Lee asked, without much hope.

Teddy shook his head.

Footsteps clicked up the stairs, and Aunt Ginny appeared, looking furious. "Teddy Lupin, don't you _ever_ do that again! Ever!"

Teddy shrank away from her.

"You were told to stay where you were! What were you doing out here?"

"I saw... er..."

"Oh, I know you have the bloody Marauder's Map. No, Harry didn't tell me, I just know. And I know you were worried about James. But dammit, Teddy, did you really think we'd let them out of there? You didn't need to leave the Owlery. You'd have been perfectly safe there! Do you really think I'm less worried about _you_?"

"I - "

"And _you!_ " she turned on George. "You had one simple job...!"

"Yeah," he said. "It was keeping watch, and Teddy did right well at it. If we hadn't driven them away from the Great Hall, those are the windows they'd have broken, and we wouldn't have got there in time without Teddy."

She took a deep breath, and pressed her hand against her forehead. She looked at Teddy, then looked away. "I'm sorry, Teddy, but you didn't belong down here. You know you didn't. What were you thinking? I told you to go back!"

"There was a werewolf on the stairs," Teddy said, bewildered. There was a strange, high color in Aunt Ginny's cheeks, and she seemed not to be entirely here.

Quite out of nowhere, she hugged him fiercely, then pulled away, wiping at her face. "Come on," she said to George, looking at the netted werewolf with loathing in her eyes. "Let's get this filthy thing downstairs with the others. Kingsley can get them back to Azkaban. Teddy, you... you go back to Gryffindor Tower. Come down to the Great Hall before curfew to say goodnight. Lee, get him there."

Aunt Ginny and George Levitated the werewolf and headed away.

Lee put his hand on Teddy's shoulder. "Come on," he said. "I haven't had a chat with the Fat Lady for years."

"I shouldn't have left the Owlery."

"No. But Ginny's not one to talk."

"I guess she embraced her inner hypocrite, too."

Lee sighed and stopped. "No, Teddy. She's just thinking of someone else she begged to stay put in the middle of a battle. Someone who didn't come back."

Teddy looked down. "My mum."

Lee nodded. "Yeah."

They didn't talk the rest of the way to Gryffindor Tower. Teddy's head was starting to hurt from the amount of light getting in through his eyes, and he couldn't seem to get them to morph back. He had a sinking feeling that he'd have to go to Madam Pomfrey about it. They reached the Fat Lady.

"You know I can't say the password in front of you," he said.

"Very good," Lee told him.

"Guess I didn't do so well."

Lee smiled. "George wasn't kidding. You did just fine. As to running down - probably stupid, but we all know why you live in this Tower. And I always sort of wondered why your mum didn't. You come by it honestly enough. Just... be careful. And we're still on for pipes and poker this summer, if you want. Though I think we'd best tell the Dear Lady that you're helping with inventory at the store." He winked.

Teddy nodded weakly, then heard a buzzing that told him Lee had cut off his own hearing for a moment.

He said the password and the portrait hole opened. The buzzing stopped. Lee waved to him solemnly, and waited for the portrait to shut behind him.

The whole of Gryffindor House was in the Common Room, most of the older students with their wands raised, the younger ones, including Kirk Scrimgeour, craning to get a look. Professor Longbottom was going around, organizing them.

"Teddy!" he said. He looked at Teddy's still-morphed eyes, then appeared to decide not to ask. "Ginny sent her Patronus. Something about a Streaming Spell?"

"Streaming Spell?" Teddy asked stupidly.

"It allows them to convert to a faster moving form, and reform somewhere else. They shouldn't be able to use it transformed, but - "

"They did," Teddy said. "But we've got all of them that were here. Unless more can Apparate, even after they're transformed."

This was apparently no more comforting to Gryffindor Tower as a whole than not knowing anything had been. Professor Longbottom swore under his breath, then looked abashed. "Staying in here where I belong is a lot harder than going out there."

"Where's my sister?" Kirk asked, elbowing his way up. "She was in the Great Hall listening to Donzo, and - "

"I think everyone's all right. They'd have locked down the Great Hall."

There was a flash of light - Mina Moran screamed - and a glowing lynx dropped from the ceiling. Kingsley's voice said, "All clear, Professor Longbottom. All safe. Four werewolves captured. Continuing patrols. Heads of House to the Great Hall."

Professor Longbottom looked around for a seventh year, and found a girl named Mavis Liu. He put her in charge, and rushed out. The students started to crowd Teddy, asking about the werewolves and his eyes (a first year named Potter Goldman asked if he'd done that to scare the wolves off), but Mavis cut them off self-importantly. "Teddy," she said, "has had a busy evening, and you should all let him be."

Pompous as she was about it, Teddy was grateful. He trudged up the stairs to his room and lay down on his bed. Checkmate jumped up onto his chest and put her wet nose on the base of his chin. He scratched between her shoulder blades, and she started to purr.

"I cocked it up," he told her. She gave him an understanding look, then crawled further up and curled herself on his neck, giving him a faceful of her flank hair. She continued to purr contentedly.

He tried to sleep, hoping he could get back to Tirza's ship and thank Holt, and let Tirza yell at him for being stupid, as he'd been such a pain to her about it, but sleep wouldn't come at all, let alone dreams. It wasn't late enough, and his eyes hurt. Looking into Checkmate's fur, he could see individual hairs, and tiny skin flakes stuck in them. Each stood out like a large snowflake. He'd never noticed before, but she had a few pale orange hairs scattered in the white part of her coat. He couldn't see any fleas, and hoped he hadn't picked any up from the werewolf to pass on to her.

For what seemed a long while, he didn't think about anything. He just examined Checkmate's coat with his new eyes and let the world go on around him. Checkmate decided she'd given him enough of a cuddle - at least before he gave her supper - and jumped down with no fanfare, though her back leg thumped against his throat hard enough to bring him up from numbness, rubbing at it. He went to his desk (the smooth writing surface now looked cracked and splintered, though it felt no different than it had before) and looked for a mirror. He found one in the drawer beside _The Lost Treasure_ , and drew both out.

His eyes had returned to their normal size, but were still perfectly round, with wide pupils surrounded by red. They weren't owl eyes. They were hawk's eyes.

He blinked them.

Had he accidentally actually _Transfigured_ them into the shape of his Patronus animal's? He hadn't done accidental magic for a long time, but he remembered the sense of snapping up in the Owlery, the feeling of having done something entirely new. He scrambled for Professor McGonagall's letter, with its list of books. He thought the library might be his first stop after classes tomorrow. He had a feeling that it would be locked down tonight, and a quick glance at the Marauder's Map showed only Madam Pince and Filch, together in her workroom. Teddy chose not to consider this too carefully.

There was a knock at his door.

He opened it to find Aunt Ginny, looking miserable. "I'm sorry I was short tempered with you," she said. "I know you meant well, and were worried about James."

"I was stupid, and made the trouble worse because you had to leave the main battle."

She shrugged and nodded. "You did a lot right first. It evens out."

"Lee told me what you might have been thinking about. About... Mum."

"Yes." She took a deep breath, then shook herself. "Do you need help with that morph? Madam Pomfrey is in the Great Hall."

"Was anyone bitten?"

"No, but there are some glass cuts, and Kingsley took a nasty claw gash when the one got by him."

"That won't make him a...?"

"No. Only bites. But it will scar." She led him down the stairs. "That's quite a morph, by the way. Your mum did pig's noses and dog's ears - just to make us laugh - but I don't think they actually _worked_ like them."

They talked awkwardly as they went down to the Great Hall. Teddy loved Aunt Ginny, but he'd never been as close to her as he was to Uncle Harry or the children. He'd hated her for a little while after Uncle Harry had married her (and gone away), and it dawned on him that his screaming at Uncle Harry not to leave the first few times he'd visited afterward must have made her not like him very well either, at first. They'd got past it, but didn't really have a convenient place to put one another.

They reached the Great Hall, and James ran up to Teddy, then stopped to marvel at the hawk's eyes, which he declared quite better than the old ones. Lily was frightened of them, though, so Teddy decided to see Madam Pomfrey as quickly as he could. She was just finishing up with Kingsley - Story and Laurel were both looking at him with deep admiration - and signaled for Teddy to come up next.

"Hmm," she said, frowning at them in her wandlight. "You know this isn't normal Metamorphosing."

"I'd got that far."

"All right. It's still simple Transfiguration. I'll just do the counter-spell, but I recommend that you speak to Professor Gardner about learning it yourself. With your natural Shapeshifting ability, I'm not sure how safe you'll be once human Transfiguration properly begins."

"Oh, they just hurt a bit..."

She gave him a doleful warning look, and he didn't argue. A moment later, he felt the same sort of popping sensation in his head, and his vision returned to normal as he felt a great deal of pressure suddenly disappear. She moved on to a seventh year who had a healing paste on his face, saying that it was time to remove it.

"Teddy?"

He looked around as he slid off the table where Madam Pomfrey had examined him. Ruthless was waiting for him, and quite abruptly came to him and put her arms around him, which she hadn't done since they'd broken up. He moved to kiss her, but she moved away, shaking her head.

"They said a werewolf caught you."

"I'm all right." He bit his lip. "I saw you on the Marauder's Map. You were running at the door."

"Er... yeah. That. Fleur Weasley Banished us back. I spent half an hour bound to Victoire and James, back with the babies, as she said she couldn't trust us any further."

"I'm surprised James didn't try to escape."

"Oh, he did." She sighed and sat down. "Victoire threatened to hex him if he didn't stop squirming."

"Your brother was worried about you," Teddy said.

"I know. I went up and told him I was all right. He's not half-bad for a complete waste of oxygen, you know. But don't tell him I said that. Is this really over?"

"We didn't get Greyback."

"Right."

Professor Sprout clapped her hands smartly. "Hogwarts students, you will now return to your dormitories, unless you have family here. If you have family and choose to remain with them, notify your Heads of House, who will be taking your classmates back."

James and Al rushed up at Teddy, grabbing him by the arms. "You must stay!" James said. "We need you to watch us!"

Al nodded fervently in agreement.

"Well, I'm not really fam..."

A small hand tapped the back of his head in irritation, and he turned to find Aunt Ginny rolling her eyes at him, now back to her usual self, or putting on a good show of it. "We're camped near the conference room," she said. " _Really,_ Teddy."

Ruthless joined Professor Longbottom and the other Gryffindors in the Hall, and a moment later, they were gone. Teddy followed the boys to the Potter family's area, which was staked out beside the Weasley family's. Rose and Hugo ran back and forth between them in excitement.

Throughout the long night, Patronuses flew back and forth. Ron sent one from Azkaban, saying he'd caught a werewolf trying to infect a Muggle near the Leaky Cauldron. Uncle Harry sent two, upon other captures, then a third, frustrated one, when they hadn't got there in time. Greyback had gained back at least one of his losses. Teddy sent his own Patronus to tell Uncle Harry that it was all right, though he supposed that wasn't strictly the sort of emergency they were meant for. Kingsley, who had gone to Azkaban to oversee a quick magical expansion of the lycanthropic holding areas, sent his lynx to say that it was under control, and given the werewolf activity elsewhere, he thought it was safe for Hogwarts to go onto a less active watch. Some of the guards took the opportunity to sleep, promising to pick up the second shift. Aunt Ginny didn't sleep at all. She just watched. Teddy went to sit beside her, at least for a little while, though he was getting fuzzy-headed from lack of sleep by then. Beside them, Bill and Fleur's children were all sleeping peacefully. Victoire was lying on top of her sleeping bag on her stomach, her pretty hair a tangled mess, snoring loudly.

Teddy himself finally drifted off just as the enchanted ceiling started to get lighter. Deep sleep didn't come, and he fancied himself just a labyrinth turn from the waking world. Voices boomed in and out of his mind. He could feel the motion of a ship beneath him sometimes, but the dream never took shape.

At last, his mind registered the soft voice speaking nearby. He blinked his eyes open to see Uncle Harry, sitting against the wall with Aunt Ginny, his arm around her shoulders. He looked tired and was covered with dirt, but when he saw that Teddy was awake, he spared a weary smile.

"Lee and George told me you did a fantastic job."

"I didn't."

"Well, I heard about that, too. And I have every intention of yelling at you about it when I'm not so tired. It's been a long night, Teddy. And we didn't get Greyback _or_ Mathilde Dubois."

"You should sleep, Harry," Aunt Ginny said.

"I will. I just wanted to" - he yawned - "see you and the the children." He pulled himself up and went to James's camp bed. James was sleeping in his customary manner, on his back, with his arms and legs thrown to either side. Uncle Harry pulled his blanket up and kissed his head, then moved on to Al, who was muttering in his sleep. Al got a few words - he liked being talked to more than James did - then Uncle Harry moved to Lily, who actually got a little hug as he leaned over, because she didn't wake up easily on any amount of prodding. Finally, he came to Teddy, and - much to Teddy's surprise - kissed his head, as he had when he was very small, and put a hand on his shoulder to give it a squeeze. Teddy blinked in confusion, wondering if he was meant to return the kiss, as he was awake.

Uncle Harry grinned and shook his head. "Don't worry, Teddy. I just needed to do that. I just..." He sighed. "I needed to actually touch all of you. Make sure you're real."

With this odd pronouncement, he Conjured a mattress for himself and went to sleep. Aunt Ginny continued to stay awake, watching, and after a while, Teddy's eyes slid shut again, and he fell into a solid sleep at last.


	19. The Stain

**Chapter 19:**

 **The Stain**

The werewolf attacks were the front page of the next day's _Daily Prophet_ , of course. Altogether, the Aurors had caught eight werewolves, and interrogation of the imprisoned members of the pack suggested that there were fewer than a dozen left. "But their ranks," Rita Skeeter wrote ominously, "were nearly restored by the end of the night, with four healthy British children stolen away in the dead of night..."

The children's names were not familiar to Teddy, except in the way names of pure-blood families nearly always were - a Fawcett, a Catchlove, a McDougal, and Derwent. None of them had any particular reason to be targeted, and hadn't done anything to protect themselves. The Derwent family had been slaughtered. The Fawcetts were interviewed, and seemed to blame the Aurors for not being there, and complained that they, like the Overbys, had been hit for being too close to a target's home (in their case, the Burrow). Several other families, who'd been saved by the Aurors, were also interviewed, but of course, they didn't get Rita Skeeter's byline. At the Ravenclaw table, Geoffrey was expounding to the first years about what sort of business had probably gone into the interrogation, at least until Franklin - Teddy was quite thankful for this - told him to shut his trap for once. In Charms, Franklin came to work with Teddy, and said that he understood the situation better now, though he still wished werewolves were treated better. Teddy shrugged and said, "You'll have no argument from me," then got another rock, as the first one they'd been trying to charm had scampered off the table and was presently hiding under a dusty cupboard.

The next day, letters had poured in from families all over Britain who'd called Aurors and been saved. One of the editors used them to make a map. They estimated at least eight different paths. The one at Hogwarts was singular, and another attempt, involving two werewolves, had been made on Ministry headquarters. Like Hogwarts, it had been left in the care of non-Aurors; in the case of the Ministry, Maddie's department - the Unspeakables - had trapped both attackers in a mirror. The picture of this in the _Prophet_ was frightening indeed, though the text said that both had reverted to human form, and were now trying to arrange a release. Single wolves had roamed the countryside, looking for victims in the Cambrian Mountains, on the Bodmin Moor, outside Donegal, near Loch Shin, in the Pennines, and on the Isle of Wight. There was no rhyme or reason to these choices, at least according to the paper. They were just "soft." Whatever that meant.

"I can't imagine what they thought they were doing on the Isle of Wight," Uncle Harry said as they walked toward the Shrieking Shack. "It's not as though it's on the way to somewhere, and there's no reason for her to have started them there."

"Maybe they were looking for a holiday home," Teddy suggested. He was walking on a series of uneven stones at the side of the road, slowing them down, but more determined than he had been to cure himself of his clumsiness. It had been nothing but good luck that had kept him from jumping straight _into_ Konrad the werewolf. "You know, pretty scenery, lot of tourists to hunt for sport if they go during the Bestival."

"The what?"

"The Bestival. It's a music thing at Robin Hill. Muggle. The Weird Sisters have been there a few times. Everyone dresses up on the Saturday it happens. I don't _really_ think Greyback's people would have much use for it."

Uncle Harry shrugged. "It's as reasonable as anything else I can think of." They stopped at the gate, and Uncle Harry waited for Teddy to open the house. "I've decided not to lecture you," he said as they went in. "You know where you went wrong, and I'd rather work on your Stunning Spell. Also, Ginny said she was quite explicit in her scold."

"She was right." Teddy closed the door and looked around. "Lee said she was there when my mother went off onto the grounds. That she tried to stop her."

"Yes."

"Does she know why Mum left?"

Uncle Harry frowned. "I've told you everything we've been able to piece together. Your mum was fighting beside Ginny. She saw something down below and ran off."

"D'you think it was Dad?" Teddy asked. "I mean, do you think she ran off because she thought she could save him?"

"I don't know. They were found together, and Dean saw her running out, but no one knows if that's _why_ she came out of the castle."

"I, er... heard that she really liked these stupid romance books, where the heroines are always rushing off to save the heroes. Do you suppose she ran off because she thought it would be like the books?" Teddy did his best to keep his voice even, but Uncle Harry still looked suspicious.

"I think," he said, "that if your mum liked that sort of story - and I didn't know that about her - that it was because that was the sort of person she was. She believed in jumping right into things. Trying to help."

"Oh."

"She's quite a lot like someone else I can think of just now."

"Only Lee and George were otherwise occupied when she did it."

Uncle Harry sighed and sat down on one of the parlor chairs they'd repaired. "Teddy, your mum was a skilled Auror, not a thirteen year old who hadn't mastered a Stunning Spell yet. Whatever happened, it wasn't because there was no one to rescue her. My suspicion is that Bellatrix caught her in a weak moment, not that Tonks did anything she oughtn't have. She was just overwhelmed, like all of us were."

Teddy nodded, then took a deep breath. "You said we'd work on Stunning Spells."

"Right." Uncle Harry looked troubled, but didn't push the subject any further. They spent the next two hours Stunning each other, and by the end, Teddy thought he'd mastered it fairly well. Uncle Harry said that it wouldn't work against a transformed werewolf, which was a powerfully magical creature, but that it should work perfectly well against Greyback if he showed up in human form.

Teddy thought that the subject of Mum and what had happened on the night of the Battle of Hogwarts had been safely left behind, but as they walked back to Hogwarts in the damp February night, Uncle Harry seemed to brace himself, and said, "Teddy, are you angry?"

"At what?"

"At your mother."

"No," Teddy said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Because she was a good woman, and brave woman, and she loved you and your dad."

"And bad romance novels," Teddy said.

Uncle Harry stopped, his eyes narrowed. "Yes. I suppose, if you say so. She also liked wearing her hair pink, and collected used clothes at Oxfam. Your granny once told me that she had six Muggle wedding dresses."

"I know. I've seen them. I don't know what I'm meant to do with her wardrobe."

"You could give it back to Oxfam."

"No."

"Or you could wait until you grow up, and pass it on to a daughter to play with. Tonks would like that a lot. Teddy, she's not dead because she liked bad books, any more than she's dead because she tripped on her trainer laces. She's dead because it was a war, and she was fighting it. Stop driving yourself mad trying to come up with some other reason."

"I was reading one of them," Teddy confessed. "It was what she was reading right before the battle. She still had a bookmark in it!"

"Did you enjoy the book?"

"Well... yes."

"Do you think she did?"

"I guess so. She read the whole series."

"Then that's something good and nice to know about her. Hold onto it."

"But - "

"Teddy."

He looked very stern, and Teddy relented. "All right."

Uncle Harry hooked an arm around his neck. "All right, then. Teddy, do me a favor."

"What?"

"Re-read the book. Try to think of who she was, and why she liked it, instead of coming up with silly notions about her trying to copy it. She wasn't."

"Are you sure?"

"Teddy, you read it and liked it. Were you thinking about copying it when you jumped in front of a werewolf?"

This hadn't really occurred to Teddy. He shook his head. They reached the gate and walked up to the castle, where they said goodbye at the door. Teddy went upstairs, and opened up _The Lost Treasure_ , which was still lying on his desk. A few minutes later, he was lost in its nonsense plot, enjoying the pirates and the battle, and the absurd island with its peace draught. He stayed up until two finishing it again, skipping some of the slow parts, but deciding to read the ending without thinking, just like it was any other book. And he liked it. It was a better ending than the one she'd actually got. He imagined her on the island, pink hair braided over her shoulders, sunning herself and drinking some silly drink from a coconut shell. Better, he put Dad there as well, in a house on stilts (to protect them from tigers, of course), and Julia and Raymond and all of the others there with them, along with Tirza, Holt, the pirates, the islanders, Sirius and Regulus Black, James and Lily Potter, Peter Pettigrew, Fred Weasley, and the Malacquis family (as it wouldn't be very interesting if no one challenged them). He overslept and missed his first class on Friday, but made it to the second one, and had a perfectly nice lunch with Ruthless and Victoire, who had been making an effort to get along since Fleur had tied them to one another during the battle.

After his last class, he went back to his room and wrote a story for James, about Julia and Raymond, a brother and sister who lived on a special island. A Lethifold came and ate everyone, but they tracked it down and magically made it cough everyone back up. Then they captured the Lethifold, which was a large, flat black thing that mimicked a night-time shadow before slipping over people in their beds and leaving no trace of them behind. With all of their brothers and sisters and friends, which the Lethifold had sicked up, they killed it, then dyed it bright yellow and decorated it with pink and purple spots and smiling stick people. _And forever after,_ he finished, _it waved a friendly welcome to everyone who came to visit. The end._

He decided that next Thursday, after his lesson, it would be time to get serious about cleaning up the Shrieking Shack.

Teddy's next two lessons were Stunning Spells and housekeeping. The latter, he studied during the week, haunting a part of the library that seemed populated entirely by fifth and sixth year girls with dreamy expressions on their faces. He learned how to properly clean stains from the wallpaper (it was Ron's _Abluo Clementis_ spell, modified with a Charm meant specifically to keep the paste from crumbling), and how to repair rips in the net curtains upstairs. He moved on to a more comfortable area on magical construction, populated by both boys and girls, where he learned how to even up steps on the old staircase and repair the large furniture. During the game at Hufflepuff on Saturday, he asked Frankie for any broken furniture they might be keeping, to practice on while they played. He fixed two bright yellow armchairs (one of which immediately became the "official" Urban Planner's chair), a lopsided table, and a wardrobe Frankie Charmed to come dancing down the corridor on its splintered claw-feet. At the Shrieking Shack, he carefully repaired the bed in his room, then - trying not to think too closely about the subject - his parents' bed. The end tables in their room were smashed and it took help from Uncle Harry to get them straightened out. They worked on the banister the next week, each carved slat getting attention in turn.

Uncle Harry presented Teddy with the drawings he'd given to the pups, who had all used duplication spells on them and given Teddy back the originals. Uncle Harry had had them framed, and they put them up carefully, Teddy adding photographs of himself and Granny and Uncle Harry, as well of Uncle Harry's family and the various Weasleys. The Wall was beginning to look quite crowded. He thought about asking Granny to send the portrait Dad had drawn that belonged over the fireplace, but he wanted to have the place looking more like a home of his own rather than a fantastic phantom before he let her in on it.

The blood stain remained on the floor near the trapdoor, and each time Teddy came in, his eye was drawn to it. He briefly tried _Abluo Clementis_ before he and Uncle Harry started practicing Shield Charms, but it didn't do anything, nor did _Evanesco_. Teddy hoped Uncle Harry would bring it up on his own, rather than needing to be asked. He obviously needed more time to deal with getting rid of Snape's blood.

The third Thursday after the werewolf attack, Teddy had finished working on a strong Banishing spell, and his Patronus was flying cheerfully around the house (or at least as cheerful as it was possible for a hawk to look). He was in the kitchen trying to use the stair-leveling spell to get the warped flooring under the sink to stay flat when Uncle Harry, who was trying to get the vermin out of the cupboards, glanced out the window and declared that it was nearly curfew, and time for Teddy to get back to Hogwarts.

Teddy, who had lost track of time entirely in his losing battle with the linoleum, swore before he remembered that he was with an adult. He looked up sheepishly. "Sorry, Uncle Harry."

"I've heard worse. But we're walking a thin line with the school here, and it's best if we don't try the Headmistress's patience by getting you back late."

"Saturday is a Hogsmeade weekend," Teddy said. "Could I come here instead?"

"Not by yourself." He shrugged. "Sorry, Teddy, I can't come up on Saturday - Al's favorite little chum is having a birthday party, and Ginny can't take him, as she has to cover a game in Ballycastle - and the Aurors will be watching the village."

"Oh," Teddy said.

Uncle Harry considered it as they left the house and locked the gate. "Maybe Vivian could come with you. I know she's been meaning to find some corner of the cellar to transform in, so she doesn't disturb your work."

Teddy winced. "Oh, I forgot completely! I didn't mean to cramp her up in a basement!"

"She doesn't mind. But if all you mean to do is work on the house, it's connected to the grounds, and - with a particular sort of stretch - could be considered part of Vivian's job, so she'd have some reason to have a student here helping her. I don't suppose you've done anything warranting a detention with her lately."

"Sorry, no. I could sneak into the restricted section of the library and get some books on Animagi that Professor McGonagall told me about."

Uncle Harry's eyebrows went up. "Interesting. But that would just end you up in Madam Pince's detention." He walked down the road for a moment, looking amused. "Are you thinking of becoming an Animagus?"

"Oh, no," Teddy said. "Of course not. I'd have to have an outstanding O.W.L. in Transfiguration and register with a proper teacher at the Ministry. I'm surprised you don't know that, being the head of the Auror Division." He grinned.

"Mm-hmm."

It turned out not to require a detention. Vivian was pleased to help, though she said that Père Alderman meant to visit on Saturday, if Teddy wouldn't mind the extra company. Teddy didn't.

He spent Friday evening practicing cleaning spells in the Common Room, and Ruthless tipped her head at him curiously. "Lupin, have you gone around the bend?"

He smiled at her. He felt like he was floating. "You drove me around it. Leaving me, you know. I'll never recover."

Her skeptical expression turned breezy. "First of all, Teddy, you were the one who did the breaking up, though I notice you don't tell it that way. Second, you'd best be heartbroken. You clearly know you let a good thing slip through your fingers." She fainted melodramatically onto the nearest sofa, then peeked up cautiously. "Is it good to joke about it?"

"Sure."

"Good. I'm going into Hogsmeade with the crew of non-going-out people. Are you coming? Or have you decided to break some new girl's heart? I understand Jane Hunter has her cap set for you."

It took Teddy a moment to remember Jane, the Slytherin Muggle-born who'd broken up with Roger Young because they disagreed on the weather. He shook his head. "I don't think so. I'm doing something else on Saturday."

"What?"

He shrugged. "Housekeeping."

"I can see why you wouldn't want to miss it for mere hanging around with your friends."

"So, who's in the non-going-out crew now?"

Ruthless caught him up on the news, which he'd started to ignore once he no longer had a girlfriend or any interest in a new one. Corky had gone out with (and broken up with) Connie Deverill, and was now testing the waters with an older woman - Ruthless's dormitory mate, Kate Sands. Donzo had impressed Laura Chapman during the werewolf attack, and they'd been seen snogging near the greenhouses. Maurice was still annoyed at how many people were playing this silly game. Nearly everyone other than Frankie and Tinny was speculating on whether or not Frankie and Tinny were going together, or just going together. Teddy wondered how he'd managed to get absolutely none of this.

"Don't know how you missed it," Ruthless agreed. "But if you can tell me how, I'd like to know. I'm starting think about joining Maurice in some grand campaign against it all. I feel like I'm living in a _Teen Witch_ article, and I hate that magazine."

They continued talking until lights-out, Victoire joining them partway through, which meant that the whole thing kept being interrupted by first year boys claiming to need her advice on classes. Mina Moran came over once, and the pair of them seemed to be negotiating some delicate communication with someone they called "K." Teddy didn't follow the code, and decided he really ought to be friends with more Gryffindor blokes, as they generally just spoke English.

The next morning, he watched his classmates leave, then went down to the Whomping Willow, where Père Alderman and Vivian were waiting just behind the reach of the limbs. He hadn't taken the tunnel for several weeks, and had a moment's trouble actually hitting the knot on the roots, but a moment later, all three of them were crawling toward the Shrieking Shack. Vivian told them about her first time coming through it, when Mum and Dad had brought her to Hogwarts to hide with a water sprite who lived in the Forbidden Forest. The sprite had sealed herself away tightly during the war with Voldemort, and was now sleeping, so Vivian couldn't get back, which bothered her.

They got to the Shack several minutes later, and Teddy let them in nervously, wondering if they would think he'd done as good a job as his parents once had.

Vivian looked around eagerly. "Look how much work you've done! Oh, and Alderman, look the pictures!" She pointed at the now-framed pictures on the wall, and they patted his back warmly over the decoration.

"I'm going to work in the pantry," Teddy said. "I'll see if I can get it clean enough to store some food in."

"I brought lunch for today," Vivian told him. "But I need to Charm the basement to make sure I can't dig my way up or out. I swear the digging is worse than the biting. Every month I wake up with enough dirt under my fingernails to fill up one of Neville's flowerpots! Or splinters, if I'm in here and working at the floor."

"The Wolfsbane Potion doesn't help with that?" Père Alderman asked.

"It manages to make me feel very silly for doing it while I'm doing it, but I can't seem to stop. It's so comforting."

Père Alderman looked at Teddy. "Do you need help getting started?"

"No, go ahead."

The pair of them disappeared into the cellar, and Teddy listened to them talking and laughing together as they set up for Vivian's transformation. He couldn't make out their words through the floor, but he imagined them being comfortable and easy together.

Eventually, he got more absorbed in the work of getting rid of mouse droppings in the pantry drawers, and he didn't notice that the voices had stopped until he turned to find Père Alderman standing in the doorway.

"You really have done a remarkable job here," he said.

"Thanks." Teddy Vanished a pile of ancient waste and decided the drawer he was working on was good enough for now. He moved on to the next. "I found a simple construction book. I think I'm going to buy some wood, or maybe ask Professor Longbottom if I can have something pruned from the Whomping Willow, and make a book case for my room upstairs. I could buy one, but I think I'd like to try making it. There's a whole box of Mum's books that I could put out."

Alderman gave him an odd look, but didn't comment. "It sounds like you're enjoying the house."

"I am."

"Maybe you've found what you were meant to be."

"Well," Teddy said, "I can't be _entirely_ there, as I was meant to have brothers and sisters, but I can get the house proper, at least." He saw Père Alderman's eyes narrow, and quickly added, "I know I can't bring them back."

"I wasn't going to say that, Teddy."

"It's not a waste of time. It's a good thing to do."

"I wasn't going to say it wasn't. I think you've discovered something that makes you feel good. Have you considered doing magical construction?"

Teddy laughed. "I don't think so. I don't want to work on someone else's house. How would I know what someone else wanted?"

"According to Blondin, they usually tell you."

"Oh. Well, I still don't think so. It's not what I want to be."

"What do you want to be?"

"I don't know." Teddy shrugged. "I just want my house."

"Then you're doing what you need to do," Père Alderman said. "Though there's a stain near the trapdoor."

Teddy frowned. "I know. I'll get to it. I think it might need Holy Water or something. Did you happen to bring any?"

"I don't think Rome would approve of using Holy Water as sanctified Scrubbing Solution." Père Alderman leaned against the door frame. "It's blood, isn't it?"

"From a murder," Teddy said. "Voldemort killed Snape here. But I won't let Voldemort have my house." He squared his shoulders as heroically as he could in a cramped pantry.

Père Alderman nodded, and let him get back to work.

"Do you think they'll come again?" Teddy asked the next Thursday, just before the March full moon. "I mean, they must be angry."

Uncle Harry shook his head. "We've been doing some interrogation at Azkaban. Mathilde apparently never thought of teaching them to resist Veritaserum. We don't know how she got past the barriers - they didn't understand it - but apparently, Greyback wasn't entirely happy with her plan. Not personal enough. I think you're safe, but trust me, the Division is on alert. Try it again."

Teddy leveled his wand at a ball of dried clay that Uncle Harry had Conjured. "I'm a little worried about blowing up the kitchen if I overdo."

"The Blasting Curse isn't as easy as you think. And if you blow up the kitchen, we'll just build it again. It's used to it by now."

"All right." Teddy took a deep breath and focused his energy, then said, " _Confringo!_ "

The clay ball trembled.

"You need to put more in," Uncle Harry said.

Teddy tried again. This time, the ball sprouted honking daffodils. He frowned. "Could you show me? I don't think I've got it right."

"I don't know. Honking Daffodils might have been enough to confuse Nagini when she came after us in Godric's Hollow."

Teddy raised his eyebrows and waited.

"All right," Uncle Harry said. He raised his wand and said the incantation, and the ball exploded into tiny fragments. Teddy and Uncle Harry went under the table to avoid being cut.

"Would that work on Greyback?" Teddy asked.

Uncle Harry turned to him, face ashen. "No, Teddy, this only works on objects. And I don't want you thinking of killing Greyback."

"Do you really think he'll be taken alive? And do you really _want_ to?"

"I don't want you killing anyone. Leave it to the Aurors."

Teddy noted that this didn't exactly answer the question, but let it pass. Uncle Harry put the ball back together, and Teddy managed to get it to crack in half before they ended the lesson and started looking for things to do with the house. Teddy went upstairs to look, leaving Uncle Harry in the kitchen. It didn't exactly look like a palace, but the major work was done, and it was clean, except for the blood stain, and when Teddy came downstairs, he wasn't surprised to find Uncle Harry by the trap door, looking at it, troubled.

"I tried _Evanesco_ and _Abluo Clemente_ on it," Teddy said.

"I tried _Scourgify._ "

"Is blood always this hard to get out?"

"No." Uncle Harry paced around the edge of it, looking at it like it might resolve itself into his old Potions Master and start lecturing him on his inadequacies. "Snape was bitten by Nagini, and she was venomous. She was also a Horcrux. Mixing all of that together may have some unusual properties."

Teddy was surprised at the mention. He knew the story - or most of it, there was a part that Uncle Harry was waiting until he was older to tell - but the Horcruxes weren't something Uncle Harry talked about frequently or easily. "You were a Horcrux," Teddy said tentatively. "Did your blood permanently stain things?"

Uncle Harry smiled faintly. "If it had, half of Hogwarts would be painted reddish brown. But to the best of my knowledge, I wasn't venomous on top of it." He shook his head sharply, and his eyes came into focus. "Right. Let me try modifying the Scouring Spell." He bent to the woodwork and did the spell nonverbally. Teddy saw the floor lighten considerably - around the stain. The stain remained as it had been, but now looked darker in contrast.

" _Abluo_ ," Teddy tried, without much hope that removing the gentling charm would help. It didn't.

"We could try it the Muggle way," Uncle Harry suggested. "I had to sand Aunt Petunia's stairs once when Dudley gave me a nosebleed on them." He waved his wand, and two pieces of coarse sandpaper appeared, wrapped around wooden blocks. He handed one to Teddy and said, "Go with the grain."

It seemed odd, especially when there was a Sanding Spell, but Teddy supposed that if it was resisting magic, a bit of Muggle technique might be just the thing. He bent over and started working at the edge closest to the trapdoor. The plank became very smooth, but Teddy didn't notice any lightening of the stain.

"I don't know if we'll be able to do this," Uncle Harry said.

"We _can_." Teddy stood up, casting around for a solution. A little rug was rolled up under the parlor sofa, and he dragged it over and put it over the stain, which poked out under the edges. He tried to move it, but another bit poked out.

He ground his teeth and went to the kitchen, where his book bag was sitting on the table.

"What are you after?" Uncle Harry asked.

"The knife you gave me a couple of years ago," Teddy said, finding it at last, folded up under the Marauder's Map and an essay for Robards. "If we pry up the planks, we can just turn them over, can't we? Then we could finish them, and you wouldn't even notice anything was wrong."

"The stain would still be there," Uncle Harry pointed out.

"Does it matter if I can't see it?" Teddy didn't wait for an answer. He popped the tip of the knife under the edge of the nearest board and leaned on it for pressure.

A huge chunk of wood popped out, looking like a clumsily made toy sword, but the board remained firmly fixed in the floor.

"Teddy, I don't think - "

"I can _do_ this," Teddy said, moving around, trying to find a new place to start with the knife. The end of the board had been a bad choice. Maybe somewhere in the middle of its length...

The knife, which he'd dug between the floor slats, flew out of his control, slicing his hand open beneath the thumb, adding his own fresh blood to Snape's. Pulling away, he dragged the wound over the sharp piece of the floor that he'd managed to break off earlier.

Uncle Harry was over in a flash, grabbing Teddy's wrist. "Are you all right?"

"Fine," Teddy said, reaching for the knife, which had skittered under an old wardrobe.

"Wait a minute, let's get this healed."

Teddy didn't care about the bleeding. He tried to pull away.

Uncle Harry pulled him back sharply. "Teddy, that's enough." He tapped Teddy's hand with his wand, and the cut burned with pain as it magically healed. Teddy went for the knife again, but Uncle Harry continued to hold him still. "Teddy, I think it's time to get back to Hogwarts."

Teddy blinked at him. He looked his version of stern, which was something like he looked when Lily was about to toddle down the stairs and needed to be caught. "I'm not four," Teddy said. "I can - "

"It wasn't working," Uncle Harry said.

"It will. I just have to try harder. Isn't there a spell for it? For taking out floorboards? I'm sure there is. There must be..."

"I said, it's time to stop."

Teddy drew back, rubbing his wrist. Uncle Harry had been holding it hard enough that his red fingerlines were drawn on Teddy's skin. "You don't want me to fix it."

"I want you to pull back a little bit. I know the house is important to you, but you're waving a knife around and cutting yourself."

"You don't want me to get rid of Snape's blood. You never did. He's more important to you than my parents."

"I'm not having this conversation, Teddy."

"You were here eavesdropping on him while they were dying, and now you want him to keep their house."

"Are we here, then?" Uncle Harry asked. "I have a prepared speech about this, but I find I'm more angry than guilt-ridden, so the mood's all wrong."

" _You're_ angry."

"Yes. Believe it or not, you don't have a monopoly on it. You're not the only person who lost something that night."

"I know that!"

"Then why are you acting like no one can possibly understand you? What have I ever done that makes you think I don't understand?"

Teddy felt the blood rush up to his face. Of course there was nothing. Of course. Uncle Harry had always been there for him. Been kind. _Generous._

Because poor Teddy was an orphan, after all.

He raised his wand. " _Accio cloak._ "

"Teddy!"

Teddy's heavy cloak flew in from over a chair in the kitchen, and he put it on and started jabbing the fasteners together. He pulled up the trapdoor and tossed his book bag into the tunnel, then jumped in after it.

"Teddy!"

He didn't listen. He dropped to his hands and knees. A knife in his brain was turning merrily, and it felt _good_ to be angry, _good_ to just crawl away.

He winced as the heel of his hand, where he'd cut it, hit the ground, and drew in a sharp hiss of breath.

"What is it?"

"Nothing," Teddy spat back.

He started to hobble down on one hand and both knees, Levitating his book bag ahead of him. From behind and above, he heard Uncle Harry swear at something, then there was a thud as he also dropped down into the tunnel.

"Teddy, come back here."

"You said it was time to go back."

"I don't want to Summon you, but I will if I have to."

Teddy stopped and looked over his shoulder, horrified. Uncle Harry had Summoned him _once_ , at Bill and Fleur's, when he'd been climbing the cliff and was about to go off of it and into the sea. He'd been six. "You wouldn't."

"Try me."

Reluctantly, Teddy twisted himself around in the tunnel and crawled back to the space under the trap door. "What?"

"You weren't putting your hand down."

"It didn't heal right. I'm going to have to see Madam Pomfrey."

"The healing was fine," Uncle Harry said. "But I think you have something stuck in there. Give it to me."

Teddy held it out. In the center of the palm was a ragged circular scar where, during his first year, a pebble and his father's wedding ring had cut him deeply during a fire.

"This one's turning into more scar than hand," Uncle Harry said mildly, his former anger not evident, though Teddy thought it was still there somewhere. He tapped Teddy's hand and the cut opened again. " _Accio splinter_."

"Ow!" Teddy gasped as something sharp pulled through his flesh. A small wedge of wood, covered with his blood, emerged from the cut.

Uncle Harry caught it and healed the wound again. He held the splinter up. Under the fresh blood, Teddy could see that it was deeply stained with the old. He tossed it aside, wrinkling his nose. "We need to find a new way to deal with that. We've both been breathing in the dust. It must still be impregnated with Nagini's venom."

Teddy felt something heavy fall down in the center of himself. "That's why I was angry?"

"I doubt it's the whole reason, but it may have made you less inhibited about it. Blocked out anything that might have stopped you."

"And it made you say those things, too?"

"No, Teddy, I said those things because I was angry."

"So you want to stop lessons?"

"What?" He shook his head. "No. Don't change the subject. You know I'm not going anywhere. I'm beginning to understand what made your dad want to hex me across the room, though."

Teddy nodded curtly, feeling somewhat better. After all, that had happened, according to Granny, because Uncle Harry had been telling the truth and Dad hadn't been ready for it yet.

Uncle Harry sighed. "Come on, Teddy. I'll get you back to school. Clean slate next time I see you. Deal?" He held out his hand.

Teddy examined the old scar on his own hand, then the new, thin scar that was forming where the splinter had come out. He shook Uncle Harry's. "Deal."

They didn't talk on the way back, and Teddy decided that he'd try the carpentry books to learn how to take out an old floor and put in a new one.


	20. The Clabberts' Alarm

**Chapter 20:**

 **The Clabberts' Alarm**

Teddy felt vaguely nauseated as he made his way back to Gryffindor Tower, his stomach belatedly catching up with the fact that he'd managed to pick a fight with his godfather on the most personal territory they _had_ between them. He could imagine his parents on the other side - possibly on a beach on Tirza's island, next to the dead, tie-dyed lethifold (and would something that was killed in the afterlife stay dead?) - looking at him with disgust.

 _Of course_ , a cool voice in his head demurred, _they preferred Uncle Harry, anyway. He was more interesting, and a hero, and they died for him instead of staying with you. And who could blame them, if you're going to be such a brat about it? What kind of son are you, thinking your parents needed a teenager to rescue them, anyway? Or that they weren't devoted to you? No wonder they didn't want to stay._

He stopped in the corridor, hand on his stomach, thinking he might vomit here and now, and deal with Filch yelling at him for it. Perhaps he should go to Madam Pomfrey. She might have something.

Or perhaps he should just stop picking fights with Uncle Harry. Or with voices in his head, for that matter.

"Teddy?"

He took a shaky breath and looked over his shoulder. Victoire was standing in the corridor, her head cocked to one side, her large bag resting on her hip. "What?" he asked.

"Are you sick?"

"No. Where are you coming from? It's almost curfew."

"Only 'almost.'" She shrugged. "I put a cup of Mite-y Panthers in the curtain across the hall from the Ravenclaw door knocker."

"Mite-y Panthers?"

She grinned. "From Uncle George, cooked up just for me. It's not really mites, just sort of a coarse powder. I dusted the curtain. Every time one of them brushes it, it'll roar."

"Wonderful. Does this mean we can look for screaming eagles in retaliation?"

"Well, _sorry._ Just having some fun." She started on toward the Fat Lady's portrait.

Teddy didn't feel like having another family fight just now, so he went to catch up with her. "No, you were right, I'm not feeling well. Stomach."

"Oh. Well, I think I have something..." She started digging in her bag as they walked.

Teddy held up his hand. "I think I'll check with Madam Pomfrey in the morning, and not risk turning into a rabbit or whatnot." He winked, though he didn't feel amused.

"Fine, just spoil _all_ of my fun," Victoire said lightly. They reached the portrait and she said, " _Confuto Inimicus_."

"As it ever shall be," the Fat Lady said, then opened.

Ruthless waved from the fireplace, a deck of cards in her hand, but Teddy didn't feel like staying downstairs. He pointed at his book bag, hoping she would interpret that as having homework to do. She stuck her tongue out and then called, "Weasley, are _you_ overloaded with work?"

Victoire's face went perfectly blank. She still seemed to dislike Ruthless for whatever reason she had, but this was an actual invitation, from a girl, to do something that was not related to her prank war or a boy. Teddy thought she'd probably accept it, and wasn't wrong. He watched her go over, blond hair swinging prettily over the small of her back as she pulled her bag off from over her shoulder. Ruthless greeted her with a shark-like smile, and started setting the stakes.

He went upstairs and lay down on his bed for a while, not thinking, waiting to stop feeling like he had a stomach flu. Checkmate draped herself over his ankles and lazily groomed her front paws. She gave him an irritated mew when he got up and started to walk aimlessly around the room. The pictures James had drawn for him two years ago were on his wall, and he examined each one, looking at the stick figures and shapeless blobs like they belonged on a museum wall. For no reason at all, he stood by his curtained window, studying the braided sash. For something to do, he dangled its fringed end for Checkmate to play with, and she set to it eagerly. Once she was involved in it, he Charmed it to move on its own, and went back to pacing. He should do his homework. Or read ahead. Or start to see about those books McGonagall had listed for him, though he wouldn't really be able to do anything until the morning. He thought about getting the Marauder's Map out and getting them to talk to him for a bit, and had it halfway out when he was gripped by a fear that they wouldn't talk to him, after what he'd said. It was a stupid fear. They didn't inhabit the Map. It was just a spell, like any other, and it would work as it had always worked, but he couldn't shake the superstitious dread. He imagined that James wouldn't want to talk to him at all, and Sirius would fly into a rage. Dad would just be very disappointed.

But perhaps Pettigrew would think he was a kindred spirit. Always a bright side.

Feeling quite miserable, he finally took Dad's ring from the chain around his neck and set it on a piece of clean parchment. He thought as hard he could about what had just happened with Uncle Harry, hoping for a memory that would help, then opened the window into Dad's memories.

The room disappeared, the light became tinged with gaudy pink. He could feel a moist, cool rock under him, and he was looking out over the ocean, where the sun was sinking in luxurious summer slowness. He knew he was far in the north of Scotland, not far from where the one-time Julia McManus had grown up, but he wasn't with Julia. He was with John Lupin, his grandfather, and they were camping. Tomorrow, they would go back to Dad's Muggle grandparents' house, and there would be great falcons and climbing around an old fortress (recently fifteen and headed into his O.W.L. year, Dad didn't think he'd tell his friends how much he liked such nonsense), but for now, they were just enjoying a bit of bloke-time, as John called it.

Teddy felt his father's eyes move, and looked down at his hands, where there was a tin plate. On it was a fish. He knew that they'd caught the fish themselves earlier, and cleaned and boned them by hand, Muggle-fashion, just for the fun of it, then cooked them in the campfire. His was half eaten, and when he pinched off another bite - burning the tips of his fingers, as they'd forgotten to bring forks - and put it in his mouth, Teddy tasted the remembered taste, and it wasn't like any fish he'd ever really eaten (or, he suspected, that Dad had ever _really_ eaten, though he would from now on at Teddy's imagined island). It was like something they might serve up on Mount Olympus. Dad had thought at first that this was meant to be another pointless search for a non-existent cure, or what his father called "a long and serious talk" - his euphemism for a scold about an argument they'd had. Dad hadn't entirely left the memory of the argument itself, but Teddy had a vague image of both John and Julia looking shell-shocked, and a sense that something nearly unforgiveable had been said.

Instead, they'd hiked around on the country lanes all day, looking at interesting creatures (Dad had found an imp, which was now in a tiny cage, happily eating a spider) and talking about school (for Dad) and work (for John). John's work was in archiving, just as Julia's was, and Dad found it boring, but he didn't tell them that, because it pleased him that they told him about work, and shared their frustrations about their jobs with him.

John had finished his fish, and now tamped some tobacco into an old wooden pipe. He didn't normally smoke - it was Julia whose life was dusted in fine ash - but it wasn't unheard of. He reached into his bag and pulled out a second pipe. "Remus? Would you like to smoke?"

Dad didn't want to say no, so he took it and let John get him set up. He breathed in deeply, and Teddy felt his head and throat fill with stinging nettles. He started coughing, and John smacked him on the back.

Dad handed the pipe back. "I don't think so," he said.

John laughed. "Well, I thought I'd offer you the option. I imagined you might think yourself old enough, if I'm to judge by your attentions to one Tatiana Dale..."

"How did you know about - " Dad blushed; Teddy could feel it in his own skin. Tatiana had gone to Hogsmeade with him on a day all of the Marauders had dared one another to bring girls, and he was madly in love with her, though he hadn't quite dared to talk to her since, except in letters which he'd never sent. He blanched. "You read my letters?"

"No. I've just been listening to you talk, and her name is every third word out of your mouth."

"Oh."

"Don't worry. When I was your age, the girl was a blond beauty named Winifred Devins. I was devastatingly taken with her."

"But you married Mum!"

"Yes. And Winnifred married Aristotle Gamp."

Dad was shocked at this, imagining for a moment that John was talking about old Winnie Gamp, who sometimes appeared at parties. But she was quite frowsy, so he supposed it must be someone else.

John grinned. "So tell me about your Tatiana. Other than that she's a very good Quidditch player, and wonderful at Charms, and helps smaller children with their homework, and may well sprout angel wings soon."

Dad squirmed, but felt good. "There's really nothing more," he said. "Oh, except that she invented Self-Spelling wands in class one day."

"So will we meet her?"

"No," Dad said. "She's... well... I don't actually talk to her."

"Why not?"

"Well... there's not much point to it, is there? It's not like I'm ever going to marry anyone."

John sat back, the humor draining from his face. "Aside from the fact that we're talking about going out with a girl, not marrying her, Remus... what on earth are you talking about? Why wouldn't you marry?"

Dad shrugged. "You know." He pointed up at the waxing moon, now making a ghostly appearance in the sky. "Kind of stupid to worry about going out and all of that. I'd have to tell someone I married, and then she wouldn't want to marry me."

John looked frustrated, and Dad was already trying to figure out which speech this would elicit. Perhaps the you-can-do-anything-others-can, or possibly the more impatient you-need-to-stop-obsessing-over-this. Instead, John just said, "Remus, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard you say. Now... what other hearts are you out to break this year?"

Dad was a little insulted that he hadn't been taken seriously, but eventually warmed to the subject, telling John about the other girls in his year. His mind flitted over Lily Evans, who would later become Uncle Harry's mum, but also over several others, none at all serious. They all looked very different from one another. Teddy decided it was probably a good thing Dad had finally met a Metamorphmagus.

"You see," John said when the talking stopped. "It's always good to think about these things."

"Oh," Dad said wisely. "The have-hope speech. I wondered which it would be."

John threw a fish at him and the charm on the ring ended, bringing Teddy back to his dormitory.

Teddy wasn't sure what he'd got out of this particular memory, except that John Lupin had been madly optimistic about Dad's prospects. Well, that and that Dad had always resisted hope. Right up until he'd married Mum and had a child, which he got to enjoy for less than a month before dying in pain from a curse that had torn up his innards. Bully for hope.

Teddy put the ring back on its chain and went to bed, hoping for a dream where he could talk to them, find out if they were angry. But he didn't sleep for hours, and when he did, it was thin and dreamless.

The full moon rose on Friday night, and Teddy went to the Astronomy Tower to watch it for a bit. Professor Firenze had given an assignment of reading the sky and he did it absentmindedly, wondering where the Aurors were, if they were running across Greyback's pack, if anyone had been hurt. There were no alarms. Nearly Headless Nick floated up to tell him that it was nearly curfew, and Teddy nodded. He looked up at the moon and said goodnight to his father.

"Do you suppose he hears?" he asked Nick.

Nick looked less than enthusiastic, and said that he didn't know. "I wonder sometimes if I might still make the choice to find out," he said. "I find myself wondering more and more since the battle." He sighed wistfully.

Teddy frowned and went inside.

There was a Quidditch game the next morning, but the atmosphere in the Great Hall lacked the usual playful atmosphere, at least until the owls swooped in with the morning post, and everyone checked the front page to make sure that nothing had happened at home while they slept. Ruthless glanced at her copy, seemed satisfied, and handed it across to Teddy. She started warming up her bat arm.

There had been an attempt at crossing the boundary at the Ministry, to the place where four registered werewolves were transforming in their cages (there was a picture of the miserable little iron cages, and Teddy tried not to think of Dad transforming in one of them), but it had been unsuccessful. No other attacks were reported, though an "undisclosed source" gave a warning to people not to drop their guard. Teddy could almost see Uncle Harry rubbing his forehead and trying to get away from reporters demanding answers after he'd been up all night. He started to write a letter assuring Uncle Harry that it was a perfectly fine answer, then stopped, remembering that Uncle Harry might not be overjoyed to hear from him just now.

The Quidditch game lasted an hour, during which Gryffindor pounded Slytherin repeatedly on goals. Slytherin might have won anyway, as the Snitch appeared very close to their Seeker, but Ruthless sent a well-aimed Bludger in his direction, knocking him off course long enough for the new Gryffindor Seeker - a second year girl named Sylvia Neill - to swoop in for the capture and the game. There was a party back in the Common Room, but Teddy didn't stay long after congratulating Ruthless, who was engaged in her rather dangerous form of dancing. He ducked her flailing arm, then went to the library with Professor McGonagall's list of books on the Animagus transformation. Only one of them was on the open shelf - the rest were in the Restricted Section - and he pulled it out sneakily, though he had every right to it. It just seemed like something that ought to be sneaked.

He would have expected a book like this to be quite popular (there _was_ glamor in being an Animagus), but the card in the front pocket only had ten names, and they went all the way back to the nineteen-forties, when the first one was "M. McGonagall." It had also been checked out by an R. Skeeter in the fifties, as well as by a handful of people in the sixties. In nineteen-seventy-three, nearly covered over by a blood red stamp that said "LATE RETURN," was J. Potter. Several weeks later, also nearly covered by the LATE RETURN stamp, was S. Black. The only check out in the interim since then was to H. Granger, in the spring of nineteen-ninety-five.

Teddy thought about actually checking it out, just so he could add his name to this particular list, but decided to wait until he'd actually learned to transform. No sense having people pay attention to his reading material just yet. He holed up at a secluded study carrel near a drafty window so no one would bother him, and read several chapters. He deduced early on that his accident with his eyes was a rather common one people made when they were deliberately studying the subject. He'd done it clumsily, based on his natural shapeshifting ability, but he'd apparently tapped into the magic involved. Unfortunately, he didn't understand the vast majority of what he was reading. No wonder standard training required an Outstanding O.W.L. in Transfiguration... but of course, the O.W.L. just meant that a person had mastered it. There was nothing preventing him from reading and learning ahead, and not bothering with the actual exam. But he'd definitely need to do that if he had the slightest thought of becoming an Animagus. It looked like there was a lot in there about holding one's identity as well. He guessed the book may have helped James come up with his identifying spells on the Marauder's Map as well.

Reluctantly, he put it away when Madam Pince came around, ordering everyone out for the night.

On Sunday, there was a Muggles and Minions game in Hufflepuff. Victoire maneuvered her character into uni, so she was now working with Donzo and Teddy, though Story was on the fringes. Ruthless decided that her character wanted to show up Victoire's character, and they spent most of the day rolling against each other in various staged contests. Teddy thought it wiser not to take sides, as Victoire had a bag full of Weasley pranks and Ruthless had a bat and a temper.

By Monday, the sick feeling from the fight had passed, and he resolved to apologize. He was on the way down to Care of Magical Creatures with Tinny and Roger when he saw Uncle Harry arrive for guard duty, switching off with Williams on patrol near the greenhouses.

He stopped. "Er, Tinny... could you tell Hagrid I'll be along in a minute?"

Tinny drew her eyebrows together. "You'll be along? You want me to tell a professor that you'll be 'along' for a class?"

"Well... yes."

She shook her head at him like she thought he'd gone round the bend, but agreed. Teddy watched her head off with Roger, then squared his shoulders and took the path toward the greenhouses. Uncle Harry was chatting with Professor Longbottom, looking tired and morose, and Teddy wondered if things had been worse during the moon than the _Prophet_ had let on. Professor Longbottom looked up and spotted him first, and pointed at him, giving Uncle Harry a smile.

Uncle Harry turned, and his face brightened. Teddy guessed it was a show. He was always good about not letting work get into his family. He started up the path and met Teddy halfway.

"Hi, Teddy."

Teddy bit his lip and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'm sorry I said those things. I know it was the worst thing I could say - what I said about you not caring about my parents - and I know it's not true and I'm sorry I said it and - "

"Teddy, it's all right," Uncle Harry said. "I could have handled it better. I expect it's not the last time we'll run across it. And as Hermione reminded me, when I was thirteen, I did a lot of raging about losing my parents, too."

Teddy nodded. "Still..."

"Teddy, listen. What you said wasn't true, but I know where you got it from. I _was_ there when Remus died, and I gave my son Snape's name. But I didn't need to give him your dad's name. Your dad gave his name to you, and it's yours to pass on when the time comes, not mine."

Teddy tried a smile. "It's probably a good thing," he said. "'Albus Severus Remus' would sound awfully funny."

Uncle Harry laughed more than the joke was worth, and said, "Yes, I suppose it would, though that's not really my first reason for thinking it's a good thing that you're here. So, let's say we found the last functioning Time Turner and gave it a twist back to Thursday night."

"Right," Teddy said. "We just decided - very calmly, of course, and with no knife-waving - that we couldn't fix the floor."

"And then came back here and talked about deep and interesting things." Uncle Harry still looked sad. He sighed. "You'd best get to class. And I'd best get on patrol. I'm meant to be on the far side of the castle by now."

Teddy nodded. Uncle Harry squeezed his shoulder and started up toward the castle. Teddy went on to Care of Magical Creatures, where everyone was gathered in the paddock, around the Clabbert cage. Vivian was there as well, standing behind Hagrid, smiling broadly with the half of her mouth that worked properly.

Hagrid was grinning madly when he looked up. "Teddy! Glad yeh could make it. I was jes' tellin' the others, we go' some good news. Seems our pair o' Clabberts really _is_ a pair!" He reached into the cage and a green hand found his wrist. "Come on out 'ere now, girl, an' show 'em yer surprise!"

The smaller of the two Clabberts hobbled out into the sunshine, and Teddy could see that her belly was just the littlest bit swollen.

"Is she - ?" He looked at her.

"Expecting!" Vivian finished. "It's so exciting!"

"Never did have summat born fer a class," Hagrid said. "There was a baby dragon once - Teddy'll know all about tha' - but that was before I was teachin'."

The boys looked at each other, no one really knowing whether or not they were supposed to express interest. Tinny and Jane looked cautiously optimistic, but when Jane noticed Teddy looking at her to see how she was reacting, for some reason, she turned bright red and looked away.

Roger, who loved animals best, finally broke the impasse by going up to the female Clabbert and touching her belly. "Professor Hagrid," he said, "could you Conjure a stethoscope?"

"A what?" Hagrid asked.

"A stethoscope. You put it in your ears, and put the flat part on something, and you can hear. We could hear the baby Clabbert's heartbeat."

"I don't reckon I know what that is..." Hagrid said.

"Does anyone have an Extendable Ear?" Teddy asked.

"Where do you mean to extend it?" Corky asked. "Down her throat?"

"I don't know..."

"Oh, stop it," Jane said. "You're being absurd. Roger, just write home and ask for a stethoscope. Look - you're all scaring her. Isn't that pustule only supposed to glow red if she thinks she's in danger?"

Teddy looked over. The pustule on the Clabbert's head was indeed bright red. He looked to the cage, where her mate had been gloating uselessly a moment before, and there was now a reddish light in the shadows as he looked up the hill.

Teddy turned toward the Whomping Willow, and something flashed like lightning.

"It's not us!" he said. "Get in Hagrid's house!"

A figure shimmered into view beneath the Whomping Willow, but before the branches could take aim, it burst forward in a stream of light. As it came closer, Teddy could see that it was a female shape, then she was in front of them.

Mathilde Dubois smiled. Her teeth had been filed to neat points, but she was otherwise unmarked (at least anywhere that Teddy could see). She was tall and thin, with high cheekbones and dark eyes. She'd dyed her hair a uniform black with no highlights, and cut it sharply across her forehead and under her ears. She looked like pictures Teddy had seen of women in the nineteen-twenties. Even her robes, fashionable and thigh-length, contributed to it. Her lips were painted a bright, cruel red. "'ello," she said.

Vivian grabbed Teddy's arm and dragged him behind her, then raised her wand. "You have no right to be here," she said. "It's my territory."

"Territory," Mathilde said, "is for ze 'olding." With an irritated flick of her hand - Teddy could now see that she was carrying an unusually thin light-colored wand - she disarmed Vivian.

A Patronus flew over Teddy's head, toward the castle, and Hagrid thundered forward. "Yeh get out!"

Mathilde made another contemptuous gesture with her wand, and Hagrid was bound in iron chains. A second flick made a row of bars appear, blocking off the rest of the class. She took one look to see that they were secure, then pleasantly said, "Zis is ze Lupin boy, is it not?" She tried to reach around Vivian, but Vivian moved backward violently, taking Teddy with her. Mathilde looked at her with feigned disappointment. "Oh, but 'e is so pretty."

"Touch him, you'll die," Vivian said.

Vivian's arm went stiff, and Mathilde put her hand under it. She stroked Teddy's arm. "And yet," she said, "steel living."

Teddy yanked his arm back. He tried to get around Vivian to attack, but she wasn't completely Petrified, and wouldn't let him.

"What's ze matter?" Mathilde asked. "You don't like girls? Per'aps Fenrir should come next time, you would like 'im better, no?"

"I like girls," Teddy said. "But I don't like killers." He tried again to get around Vivian, and she shifted back. Far up near the castle, Teddy saw Uncle Harry running across the grounds. He sent his Patronus, and a moment later, the greenhouse door burst open and Professor Longbottom came out, shutting his first years in with a blast of his wand.

Mathilde sighed. "What a shame," she said. "We shall 'ave to 'urry. And 'ere I wanted a nice, long talk."

"You're not taking Teddy anywhere," Vivian told her.

Mathilde looked up with vague interest. "No, no. Of course not. Not yet. 'E weel come for ze boy one day, but I 'ave come for my seester." She touched Vivian's frozen arm tenderly. "Fenrir was so 'appy to learn you were alive after all. 'E 'as so looked forward to seeing you again."

"No!" Teddy said. He shoved Vivian off to the side and drew his wand, holding it tightly against a Disarming Spell, just as Uncle Harry had taught him, but the concentration on holding onto it was too much to actually do a spell of his own.

Mathilde put her arms around Vivian, smiled sweetly, then burst into a cloud of fine, sparkling points, taking Vivian with her. As Professor Longbottom and Uncle Harry thundered into the paddock, the cloud swirled into the sky and was gone.

"Vivian!" Professor Longbottom yelled. He raised his wand, and an arc of lightning split the gray March sky, followed by a crack of thunder that made Teddy's ears ring.

Uncle Harry was doing something Teddy didn't understand, muttering and tracing his wand in an arcane pattern. Whatever it was didn't seem to work; he looked down, grinding his teeth and went to Hagrid, Vanishing Mathilde's chains, then the bars she'd used to trap the rest of the class.

"I'm sorry," Hagrid said. "She was fast. An' I was always rubbish at wand work."

"It's all right," Uncle Harry told him, then looked up at the students. "Is anyone hurt?"

Professor Longbottom turned on them, his eyes blazing. Teddy knew that he'd got close to Vivian, but the rest of the class seemed very confused. "What's the matter with the lot of you?" he asked. "Why is Teddy the only one with his wand drawn?"

Teddy fought to keep his jaw from dropping. He'd never in his life seen Neville Longbottom lose his temper, least of all at students. "It happened _really_ fast, and she was ready for Hagrid. They couldn't have done anything."

"Professor Longbottom," Uncle Harry said calmly, "perhaps you should get the Headmistress while I talk to the students."

Professor Longbottom looked mutinous for a moment, then seemed to come to his senses. He mumbled something Teddy didn't catch and strode up toward the castle.

Corky was the first to come out of the shadow of Hagrid's hut, spooked and looking as small as a first year, even though he was now easily the biggest in Teddy's year. "She just showed up from nowhere," he said.

"Where?" Uncle Harry asked.

"Under the Whomping Willow," Teddy told him. "Then she used one of those Streaming Spells to get here fast."

"I think I know what _I'm_ working on next," Uncle Harry said. "Tell me about when she appeared."

Tinny stepped forward, putting her hand on the female Clabbert's head. "We were just having a class," she said. "The red spot started glowing. And then something flashed near the tree, and she came. Teddy yelled at us to get into the house, then Vivian got in front of Teddy, then Hagrid sent for you, and she - the woman, that is - put the chains on him." She stopped, looking confused. "And it didn't seem... that is to say, I felt like I couldn't raise my wand arm. It didn't seem like there was enough time. But there must have been."

Uncle Harry frowned, then shook his head. "I want each of you to tell me about the flash you saw when she first showed up, and where you first spotted her," he said.

Each of the students, Teddy included, gave the same account as Tinny. It had all happened too fast to see details. Uncle Harry suggested half-heartedly that he might use the Pensieve, but he didn't seem to think he'd spot much more.

"Professor Hagrid," he said, "may I use your fire?"

Hagrid nodded. "Can the students go back?"

"Wait until I'm finished. I'll stay here with Teddy then, and you can walk them back." Uncle Harry went inside.

Donzo was looking thoughtfully up at the castle. "Is Professor Longbottom all right?"

"He's fine," Teddy said.

Donzo nodded, but looked like he'd put together a piece or two of the puzzle, even without Teddy's knowledge of Christmas. Teddy wanted to tell him not to say anything, but to do it, he'd have to say something himself. He'd just have to hope that Donzo would have the sense to keep it to himself.

Uncle Harry came out and sent Hagrid off with the class, and a moment later, Professor Sprout appeared. She'd sent Professor Longbottom to let his first years out of the greenhouses and take them back to the castle. "He'll join us when he's got them safely there, and apologized to Hagrid's students. I never would have thought it of Ne-" - she realized Teddy was still there - "Professor Longbottom."

"I've asked Ron to bring Hermione and get her through the gate," Uncle Harry said. "We need new protection spells, and we need them now."

Professor Sprout agreed and smiled tightly. "Er, Mr. Potter, oughtn't Mr. Lupin be with his classmates?"

"Teddy's in the thick of this," Uncle Harry said. "There's also a particular possibility I'd like to talk to him about."

"What?" Teddy asked.

Uncle Harry sighed and looked at the Whomping Willow. "I'm thinking of where she appeared. Why at the Whomping Willow?"

Teddy couldn't think of any reason.

"You think she came up through the tunnel?" Professor Sprout said.

"I'm hoping so," Uncle Harry said. "If so, then we'll just need to secure the tunnel better. I know she can't get into the Shrieking Shack, but if she was able to Apparate into the tunnel, she could have crawled up, Disillusioned, then just put on a light show to make it look like she'd broken security."

Professor Sprout nodded. "I fervently hope that's the case, Mr. Potter. Although I don't see where it concerns Mr. Lupin."

"Mr. Lupin owns the house on the far side of the tunnel, and I'd like to get his permission to expand the security charms through the whole passage."

"Er... sure," Teddy said.

"It may require some special equipment," Uncle Harry said, raising his eyebrow. "Do you solemnly swear that you don't mind?"

"Oh!" Teddy said. "No, not all. I mean, yes, I swear, I don't mind. I have some parchment in my bag. You can write down what you mean to do and give it back later." He fished in his book bag for the blank Marauder's Map, and handed it over.

"I'll have it back to you tonight," Uncle Harry said. He looked up and smiled, raising his arm in greeting. Ron and Hermione were coming from the gate.

Professor Sprout looked irritated. "I'm not entirely sure what just happened, but don't imagine that I believe that you just had a conversation about a spare piece of parchment."

Hermione reached the paddock a few steps ahead of Ron and smiled wearily. "Hello, Teddy. How are you?"

"Fine. But Vivian's gone."

"I know. Harry told me."

"Mr. Potter." Professor Sprout looked significantly at Teddy.

Uncle Harry frowned at Teddy thoughtfully, then said, "Professor Sprout, I'd like Teddy to stay. He's the only student against whom there is a direct, voiced threat. I'd like him to know what security is going to be available to him. We may think of something that we can teach him immediately."

She didn't look happy, but resigned herself to it.

The group settled into Hagrid's hut, and a few minutes later, Hagrid and Professor Longbottom arrived. Ron had taken the opportunity to bring in a great deal of food from home, which he said was just something of a gift, since they were all imposing on Hagrid's hospitality. Hagrid wasn't given any reason to offer anyone food.

Most of the talk was over Teddy's head magically. Hermione was pulling book after book from her old Hogwarts book bag, which she'd converted into a portable library (Teddy had been allowed to browse the shelves once; they were much more neatly organized than Madam Pince's). They were going to use several archaic protection spells that Mathilde might not recognize quickly, and of course, secure the tunnel. As to Vivian, there would be a search, of course.

But no one seemed hopeful about it.


	21. Unspeakable

**Chapter 21:**

 **Unspeakable**

News of the attack got around, of course. A few parents decided to pull their children out of Hogwarts until the issue of protection was addressed, but there weren't many, and none of them were in Teddy's circle. Most seemed to accept that if Hogwarts wasn't perfectly safe, nowhere else was going to be safer.

On Wednesday, Professor Longbottom appeared at Hagrid's for Teddy's Care of Magical Creatures lesson, looking contrite. He'd left his first years with Professor Sprout, he said, because he owed the class an apology. Aurors had examined the spellwork, and - aside from any natural inhibitions - Mathilde had cast an Apathy Enhancing Spell. They hadn't deserved his outburst. No one held it against him. Donzo, Tinny, Maurice, and Jane were all giving him looks of deep pity. He didn't seem to mind any guesses they were making.

There was no word of Vivian.

Uncle Harry had to cancel Thursday's lesson, as he was working with Père Alderman and the others to start searching. Hamilton had offered himself as bait, kicking off a flashy publicity tour for his book. The others would be planted in the audience, hoping that Greyback or Mathilde would give it a try. Meanwhile, they were moving about, beyond the sanctuary - Neil Overby had apparently been temporarily placed with Fleur's grandmother, Valeska - meeting lone werewolves, following clues that only they might find. Uncle Harry himself had studied the Marauder's Map and asked Teddy for the Keys to the Castle as well. He didn't need all of the Map's tricks and personality, but he wanted to create a very basic form of it, solely to alert Aurors to any new presence, the moment it appeared on Hogwarts grounds.

"We're also all studying Streaming Spells," he added grimly when he told Teddy that they'd need to cancel the lesson. "And until they're mastered, every Auror will be patrolling with a fast broomstick."

Teddy heard this all quite solemnly, until he realized that Uncle Harry had just decided to equip his entire Division with the latest Firebolts.

Uncle Harry caught him smiling and seemed irritated for a minute, then laughed at himself. "Well, it'll be the first good Firebolt I've had for a long while. Maybe you'd like to take it up once this is over? It's better than a school broom."

Teddy thought of his hawk Patronus, and of his accident with his eyes, and thought there might be some sort of flying he'd like to do... but it wasn't on a Firebolt. "That's all right, Uncle Harry," he said. "I'll just fall out of a tree or something to remind myself how it feels."

Uncle Harry shook his head and sighed dramatically. "I try, Teddy. I try so hard. But you're still so _odd_."

"Maybe Dudley's mum should throw a frying pan at me."

"Absolutely. It cured me of my abnormality brilliantly, as you can see."

After Uncle Harry left, Teddy went up to the castle for lunch. Ruthless had a test in the afternoon, and had her books spread around her, and Victoire was plotting some kind of attack with Kirk, so once Teddy got his food, he moved over to the Hufflepuff table, where Frankie was magically copying his notes onto color-coded study cards, but otherwise didn't seem to be terribly occupied.

"Ted!" he said, by way of a greeting. "This is a good idea. You should try it. I can quiz myself by flipping them over to a question, then checking whether or not I remembered it right."

"Did you get it from Victoire?"

"Yes. She found it in a book in the library, and said it might help me study for my O.W.L.s. How did you know?"

"Wild guess."

"She's quite smart, you know."

"Scary smart," Teddy agreed. "So, everyone's wondering, about you and Tinny..."

"Tinny's a third year," Frankie said, in a tone that told Teddy that the subject was closed. "So, is there any news about Viv..." He trailed off, his brows knitted together. "What on Earth?"

Teddy turned his head to see what Frankie was looking at, and found himself equally flummoxed.

Frankie's mum, Maddie Apcarne, was working her way up between the tables. She waved to them and sped up. Her expression was cheerful and welcoming, but she had no business here, and was wearing her identification tag from the Department of Mysteries. She patted Frankie's shoulder and went up to the high table, where she spoke to the Headmistress.

"What's she doing here?" Frankie asked. "It's not natural."

Teddy shook his head, baffled. "Looks like work."

"Doing what? The Greyback business isn't exactly the sort of mystery Unspeakables study, you know."

Teddy had a better notion of what the Department of Mysteries did than most people, but no clear idea of what Unspeakables actually _did_ there. Maddie had once told him, and Frankie, that a lot of what she wasn't telling them wasn't because she was under orders to keep it secret, but because there were no words, and it couldn't be spoken. Teddy wasn't entirely convinced of this. After all, if something didn't have a word, one could always be made up for the occasion.

Maddie finished her conversation with Professor Sprout, then turned and came bouncing back to the table. "May I sit down, Frankie? Oh, I've missed this table."

Frankie made room for her, blinking owlishly.

"We used to sit at the far end," she said. "Your dad, and Tonks and Sanjiv and me. Usually a good crowd of others. We'd bring games in. How are you, Teddy? Don't you belong a couple of tables over?"

"I, er..." He shook his head. "Maddie, what's going on?"

"Mm. I'll explain later, as well as I can. Suffice it to say that I need to collect you and the rest of your Care of Magical Creatures class as soon as you've finished eating." She smiled tightly, then said, "Oh, just a bit of that treacle tart, Frankie? I know you could get another..."

Frankie got used to her being there by the time she'd stopped nicking his food, and they were catching up on Carny and Mac (both in Daffy's office for the day) when Teddy finished his lunch. Other students were looking at her oddly, but with an Auror presence on the grounds all year, she didn't draw as much attention as she otherwise might have.

She noticed he was done and stood up. "Come on. Let's get the others. Hagrid said he doesn't have a class this afternoon, since it's when the N.E.W.T. levels were scheduled, and he doesn't have any N.E.W.T. students this year."

Teddy found the other students and Maddie got them started on the path down to Hagrid's cabin. She put her hand on Teddy's shoulder to slow him down.

"Hermione called in the Department," she said.

"You do protective spells?"

"You know I'm not going to answer that." She smiled. "But I _can_ tell you that she wants to try and reconceptualize the question of Mathilde Dubois. We've been operating under the assumption that she's been breaking through security, but there's one rather shocking piece of evidence."

"What's that?"

"The security wards have never been disturbed."

"But how..."

"We think they're doing something entirely different. And if we're right about that, it's very good, because instead of dealing with some brilliantly powerful anti-security spell, we just have to find her new method and create a new counter."

"Am I really allowed to know that?"

"Your godfather wants you in the loop. And I'm just as glad, but you know, of course, that it's not something to be discussed generally."

Teddy nodded. "Well, what sort of thing might they be doing?"

"No idea. It's usually useless to go in with a preconceived notion of what you'll find."

"But it would be something that's _not_ like anything else we use." She nodded, and Teddy frowned, trying to eliminate all the ways he knew wizards traveled. Flying, Apparating, Flooing, normal Muggle methods like walking or cars (since a fishing skiff had penetrated Azkaban, the Ministry was being more careful about these).

"What about water? Are there ways to travel through the lake? I heard about the Durmstrang ship..."

"Yes. Water goes through the whole world, and the Russian wizards got particularly adept at using hidden waterways, as they didn't have any warm water ports to work with. But Dumbledore was aware of those ways, and the school is protected."

"Mm." Teddy went on a bit longer, then said, "I really can't think of anything."

Maddie smiled. "It's all right, Teddy. That's sort of _my_ job."

"Oh. Right."

She laughed as they reached the paddock, then told everyone to take the positions they were in when Mathilde had appeared. For the next fifteen minutes, she moved them around, peering in the direction Mathilde had come from, examining the ground where Mathilde and Vivian had disappeared. She seemed quite frustrated with the explanation of whirling lights going upward, which made sense if the Hogwarts security showed no signs of being breached. She kept drawing little tubes from her bag and scraping things into them.

Finally, she straightened up from a barrel of mead she'd been examining, and shook her head. "I'd like to collect everyone's memories for a Pensieve, so my colleagues can get a better view back in London."

"Are you trying to catch Dubois?" Jane Hunter asked, looking avidly at the now-filled bag of samples. "That looks like crime scene forensics. I've seen it on television. I'd love to learn to do that."

"Er... if it's what I think it is, that's something Aurors might do. I'm doing something rather different. May I take each of your memories?"

Maurice shifted uncomfortably. "Would you be able to see what we were thinking about?"

"Why, Maurice?" Corky asked innocently. "What could you have been thinking about when a pretty witch in a short robe showed up?"

Maurice glared. "I was _not_ thinking about... that."

Maddie pressed her lips together to avoid smiling and said, "We won't be able to see anything inside your head. It's like taking a picture, except that we can change the focus and have a look around."

The students all looked at each other awkwardly, then Jane took a deep breath and said, "I'd like to see how it works, anyway."

One by one, they came forward, and Maddie took the thoughts from their minds and stored them in neatly labeled vials. Teddy looked at his own thoughts, which were a pink-tinged silver like the sunset clouds in Dad's memory of camping in Scotland, and wondered if she would give them back later, just so he could have a look at himself from the outside.

Then he remembered that her business was deadly serious. There was one witness whose memories she _couldn't_ take.

He silently wished her luck as she walked away.

Uncle Harry kept the Marauder's Map until the next Thursday, handing it over when Teddy set his book bag down on the kitchen table at the Shrieking Shack.

"Could you make an alarm?" Teddy asked.

Uncle Harry shook his head, discouraged. "There are too many places I don't know. I even asked George to help with the Forbidden Forest - you'll notice that there's more of it mapped out now - but there's still a lot out there. And I got the dots to appear, but without Dad's identity spell, it won't identify threats."

"Wouldn't it just show someone who Apparated, when you're not supposed to be able to do that?"

"Good thought, but the house elves Apparate around Hogwarts all the time."

Teddy frowned. "Could Mathilde have studied house elf magic?"

"I'm not sure," Uncle Harry said, blinking. "I hadn't thought about that. I'll have to ask Kreacher about how it's done. I assumed that it was something only house elves _could_ do, but it's worth a try. Nice thought." He Conjured another large clay ball, and for the next half hour, they worked on the Blasting Curse, which Teddy couldn't seem to wrap his head around properly. He managed to Transfigure it twice, make it shiver, and once, with a particularly hearty shout of " _Confringo!_ ", to cover it in a network of fine cracks.

"Sorry, Uncle Harry," he said. "I guess this isn't really my spell."

"Don't worry. I had to have Hermione tutor me for hours to pick up a Summoning Charm."

"A Summoning Charm?" Teddy asked incredulously. They were technically in the fourth year book - he'd read ahead - but most wizard-born students were attempting them from the first week on, as they were useful, and most Muggle-borns had at least tried by second year. Ruthless had joked that, in the fourth year class, the lesson on Summoning Charms was treated as a break from a real class.

"I know. It's quite pathetic, really." He shook his head. "You'll get it. Do you want to move on to something else, or do some work on the house? I brought you the wood you were talking about, for book shelves."

"You did?"

Uncle Harry shrugged. "Shall we work on it? I've never tried building furniture before."

They went up to Teddy's bedroom and laid out all the planks. Teddy still had the book out of the library, so he could get it from his room with a flick of his wand and a muttered " _Biblio._ " Between them, they got the planks sorted out, and the shapes cut into them. Teddy noticed that the two supporting sides were uneven, and lay them down beside one another to trim the bigger one while Uncle Harry cut a curlicue sort of decoration in the top.

"Your birthday's coming up," he said. "Is there anything you want for the house?"

Teddy looked around. "I don't know. Maybe some pots and pans and dishes for the kitchen. All I've got at the moment is one coffee mug full of knives that no one bothered to take."

"We'll see," Uncle Harry said. "James wants to write a story. I said it would spoil the surprise if you knew, but he wanted your permission to write about Julia and Raymond." He looked carefully at Teddy. "Your granny was over when he said to ask you about that. She looked like someone had kicked her. Is there anything you want to tell me?"

"I didn't mean to upset Granny. It was... well, they were... they would have been my brother and sister. Or maybe if I'd been a girl, I'd have been Julia. I found the names. I made a story about them. I guess James liked them, but if you don't think he should make up stories about them..."

"I don't mind if it doesn't bother you. Are you sure you want James writing one of his little treasure adventures with those names? They're kind of special."

"I don't mind," Teddy said. "It's not like anyone else is using them." He turned the plank he was working on, and a splinter jabbed the side of his finger. He drew in his breath harshly. "I think _I_ ought to be kept away from wood, though."

Uncle Harry seemed to accept this as the close of the conversation, and they cobbled the book case together over the next hour. When they finished, the right side was an inch higher than the left, and the shelves alternated angles in a zig-zagging pattern. Teddy advanced the opinion that neither of them ought to try opening a magical furniture building business. Uncle Harry laughed. "There goes my retirement plan, right out the window."

On the way back to Hogwarts, the real world seeping back in a little at a time, Teddy asked about the search for Vivian. There were no leads. The Magical Law Enforcement Department at Nurmengard had searched the woods near the old camp, and found no sign of habitation. There had been no attacks, or threats. No one had even reported thefts of food and clothing lately, which were often signs of nearby werewolves, as, in human form, they often needed things that weren't easily available in the forest and had no money to buy them with. Uncle Harry was worried about the other werewolves, as he thought it would please Greyback to "make an example" of someone like Père Alderman, but there was no stopping them.

"But they haven't done anything?" Teddy asked. "Anything at all?"

"Not since they took Vivian. At least not to anyone else."

"Will Professor Longbottom be all right? He seems very worried. And he yelled at Laura Chapman for dropping a Hiccuping Hyacinth. Laura doesn't take being yelled at very well, and I think Professor Longbottom felt bad about it, but... should I do something? It's weird to, you know, try to talk to a Head of House about _his_ problem."

"And you shouldn't do it," Uncle Harry said. "He's got friends who are helping him. Don't embarrass him."

"All right," Teddy said. He was relieved that this wasn't meant to be one of his responsibilities, though he still felt guilty about not trying to say something nice to Professor Longbottom, who'd helped him when he'd got very upset his first year. "Do you think that they'll do anything at the full moon? Do you want me to watch the Map?"

Uncle Harry nodded, but said, "I don't think they'll try Hogwarts again. We have very strong protective spells up on every side, and from above. Since Mathilde came by herself, and untransformed, I doubt that whatever she did to get through the other day is something she can repeat under a full moon. At least I hope not, though we'll have patrols."

"What do you think they're doing?"

"I don't know, Teddy. They took the new werewolves in February, and now they've taken Vivian. They may be regrouping. Re-building the pack and training people. We've done some damage to them over the year, you know. Dragging off as many as we have _has_ to have some effect on the way they do things."

"But Greyback doesn't seem very bright. Wouldn't he just keep going after what he wants?"

"Greyback is alpha in a group of untrained werewolves," Uncle Harry said, "but when Voldemort came along, he rolled over and obeyed himself. He may see Mathilde as stronger than he is. She may be controlling things now."

He didn't sound hopeful, and Teddy knew why. He'd seen McGonagall's memory of Greyback's house, Astrid's body lying on her bed, blood splashed all over the walls. Whatever reason he'd fallen into line with Voldemort, it _wasn't_ because he thought he'd lose power over his werewolves... and Voldemort had been a wizard, not a witch.

Of course _Mathilde_ might think differently, and if she made it all sound good, Greyback might be going along with her, which - for the purpose of catching them at least - made the question of whether or not she was in charge pointless.

They reached the gate, where Professor Longbottom was waiting. There was a blond woman with him, and when he opened the gate, she slipped out.

"Why open it twice?" she said nervously. "Hi, Harry."

"Hannah! It's good to see you."

"It seems," Professor Longbottom said coolly, "that some members of Dumbledore's Army have spontaneously decided I need more company than usual this year."

"Yes, it's a strange coincidence, isn't it?" the woman called Hannah said. "I think Ernie and Susan were planning to come up next week, and Justin's going to try to make it over the weekend."

Professor Longbottom sighed. "When, exactly, did Hufflepuff decide to adopt me? Come on, Teddy. It's time to get you back up to the castle." He let Teddy in and closed the gate, then turned back to Uncle Harry and Hannah. "Tell Justin not to bring Pansy, though. I can handle any number of things, but I can't handle Parkinson trying to be polite."

"I'll pass it on. Though I should warn you, he pays no attention to us when we tell him that."

"I'll see if I can find an antidote for him before he comes," Professor Longbottom said testily.

Hannah and Uncle Harry smiled, and after a moment, so did Professor Longbottom. He led Teddy up to the castle without talking much, and straight to the Fat Lady, who let him in. Teddy left the portrait open until he saw Professor Longbottom disappear down the corridor.

The days passed, and March became April. Professor Longbottom's round face began to take on a thin, hopeless look, and frequently, Teddy would see other people in his office or in the greenhouses. His angry outbursts in class had stopped after he'd yelled at Laura. Laura had decided that something deeply tragic had happened to him, but apparently didn't connect it to Vivian. At Muggles and Minions, Tinny said that Laura was driving her quite crazy with dormitory speculation about the matter. "Never occurs to her," Tinny said when most of the group was occupied with something else, "what it might _really_ be. Pretty girls never think that the rest of us might have anyone interested."

Teddy suspected she was looking for confirmation of her suspicion, and decided to change the subject instead. "You're pretty enough."

"No I'm not. If I were pretty, Laura wouldn't spend half her life trying to improve me." She closed her eyes and raised her eyebrows, stretching her eyelids out so that Teddy could see very horrible wedges of alternating pink and orange powder. "She found it in _Teen Witch_. I can't believe I let her do it."

"Me, either," Teddy said.

Tinny seemed a little nonplussed by this, and Teddy was quite glad when Frankie decided to move the game's action back to the campus, where Tinny played an archivist who was helping Maurice's computer expert break a code. She seemed happy to be back at it as well.

Teddy found himself going on with his normal life more than he thought he ought to. He sometimes stumbled over a thought of Greyback, or Mathilde, or Vivian, and it would consume him, wondering how he _hadn't_ been thinking about it, but then it would go away, and he'd be back in the life of the school. He wondered if this was how it had been during the war. All of the pictures he'd seen of his parents during the last year of their life - the worst year of the war - showed them looking deliriously happy. That was right for them, as they only had that year and wouldn't get another chance to be happy, but Teddy felt that _he_ really ought to be thinking of the important things more than he actually was. They just made his brain tired.

Victoire and Story were in peace talks over the hex war, but what Victoire _really_ wanted, she said during a long, lazy conversation by the Gryffindor fireplace, was a grand alliance to take on Slytherin and Hufflepuff next. Ruthless was asked out by Chet Fleming, the fifth year Chaser, who she'd always detested, and they'd ended up hexing each other and getting detention. Victoire's dormitory mates all seemed to think they would come back from detention engaged - Teddy guessed they were reading Fifi LaFolle, too - but they just came back covered with dragon dung fertilizer and cursing at each other quite colorfully. Teddy was relieved by this. There were essays and tests, and a particularly nasty quiz in Professor Firenze's Divination class that nearly everyone failed, as the goal was to divine the place of divination in the universe. A week before the full moon, Teddy found Professor Slughorn looking miserably at an empty cauldron, and another thought of Vivian came from nowhere. He had no reason to start brewing Wolfsbane Potion this month.

As Teddy's fourteenth birthday rushed up, he began to have nightmares about opening packages from Fenrir Greyback, each of them containing a piece of someone's body. He thought they were Vivian's at first (one, in fact, contained her magical eye), but the more he unwrapped, the more he knew who was really in them, and when he opened the last package, containing Dad's long fingers and a lock of Mum's pink hair, he'd wake up sweating. The first time, he thought he might have actually cried, but if he had, Checkmate had licked up the tears too quickly for him to really notice. He decided that he'd prefer not to know.

The last of these dreams came the night before his birthday, and he stayed in his bed for a long time while the sun rose, afraid of any owls that might start to come. Finally, he just braced himself. Greyback wouldn't know it was his birthday, after all; if he meant to send something, he'd have sent it before.

The owls started arriving halfway through breakfast. The first was from the Potters. Uncle Harry promised to bring a cake on Thursday (along with his present, which wouldn't be a surprise), though Aunt Ginny had sent one this morning as well. Aunt Ginny had given him a book of household spells. Al and Lily had drawn him pictures. James sent a very carefully written story, in which Julia and Raymond encountered a kelpie in the ocean off the island. Someone had apparently told him that kelpies only lived in fresh water, as, at the top of a page, he'd laboriously added, "And this was a special kelpie who lived in the sea and was much more dangerous." An old witch at the island's Ministry gave them special permission to use magic, and they did Bubblehead Charms to swim underwater to the kelpie's cave, where they fought it, and found out that it was guarding not a treasure - somewhat to Teddy's surprise - but "the most beautiful princess in the world." Said princess was described as having long curly red hair and light brown eyes. She also played Quidditch and was a Beater, and ended up tied up with Raymond and Julia for a time. He'd got Al to draw a picture at the mostly empty bottom of the last page, which showed Raymond, Julia, the princess, and the kelpie all waving cheerfully. Either Aunt Ginny or Uncle Harry had charmed it so that they were actually waving.

He grinned - the names had stung less, coming surrounded by one of James's stories instead of his own - and passed it over to Victoire to read, as two more owls had come while he was going through it. One of them was from Granny, who'd sent him a new book bag and a blank, leather-covered journal. The other was from Professor McGonagall, who'd sent a curious book on accidents in human Transfiguration, which showed some soberingly disgusting pictures. Ruthless sidled over and gave him a photograph of the pair of them at Weird World, which she'd found a frame for somewhere. In it, she had her arm hooked around his neck. They looked more like they were wrestling than going out, but it was still a cheerful sort of picture.

"To memorialize the temporary insanity of your thirteenth year," she said, then checked quickly to see if anyone was looking. She darted her head in and gave him a quick kiss, then drew back and said, "That was just for your birthday, so don't get _thoughts_."

Teddy nodded, and decided that a visit to her house was in order for her fifteenth birthday in August. He looked up and noticed that Victoire had finished the story, and looked about ready to throw something at him.

"Oy, Lupin!"

He looked up to find Frankie coming toward him with two packages, one large, one quite small. The Apcarnes had generally only given him one gift from the whole family since the year he was six, and had been so enchanted with the thought of presents that Maddie had carefully wrapped each piece of a chess set, and split them among family members, even baby Carny, to give to him. "Hey," he said, moving over to give Frankie room at the Gryffindor table.

Frankie put the presents down. The big one turned out to be a board game - "Dad thinks you should take it to your Common Room and spend some time playing it with the other blokes there." Teddy rolled his eyes. The small one was purely from Maddie, and Frankie was as interested as he was in what she'd sent. He tore away the black and yellow paper and pulled out a smooth silver box.

"What is it?" Teddy asked.

"It's a puzzle," Frankie said, looking confused. "Mum's got one like it. I played with it for a long time when I was little, but I couldn't get it open. I decided I had better things to do. Teddy, I hate to say it, but I think my Mum might be out to drive you crazy, giving you that."

Teddy laughed. He got several presents from other people during the course of the day, but Maddie's puzzle was what he kept coming back to. He didn't get it open, and finally set it aside at night to pick up the next time he had a few minutes to do away with.

The full moon rose two days later, and Teddy again went to the Astronomy Tower. He thought of Mathilde, hatching her plots, and Greyback... he didn't want to think of what Greyback might be doing. He thought of Vivian, and, judging by the light that burned long into the night in greenhouse two, he wasn't the only one. Mainly, he thought about how stupid life was, which wasn't a very productive thing to think about. Stupid. All of it. Living here in his little bubble, protected on every side (and from above, of course), worrying about his birthday when the first child his parents had dragged in from the darkness together was going through things that didn't bear thinking of. He didn't sleep, and thought about not doing his homework, but of course, the homework needed to be done. The only thing more petty than doing Trelawney's Divination homework would be trying to get out of it by using Vivian's disappearance as an excuse.

He went down to breakfast as soon as he could. It was crowded, as it had generally been after full moons this year, and tense until the owls swooped in, carrying the day's news. Teddy decided he ought to subscribe himself, but Ruthless handed him hers without looking at it herself first. He unfolded it, and the headline told him the bad news immediately: "WEREWOLF ATTACK!"

The worse news was in the article itself. It had been a brutal, bloody attack, leaving two small children dead and their elder sister - entrusted with their care for the evening - broken, bloodied, and cursed.

The worst news came at the end. Rita Skeeter had managed to interview the victim at St. Mungo's somehow. The girl was hysterical, according to the article, and couldn't describe much, but one thing she was absolutely sure of, one thing that seemed to her to define everything she'd seen: The werewolf who'd attacked them had only one eye.


	22. Despair

**Chapter 22:**

 **Despair**

The school split over the issue of Vivian Waters that weekend. Did this prove that werewolves were always turnable, always unreliable? Or did it prove that she should have been taken into Hogwarts after the war and trained properly so she could have defended herself?

Predictably, Dad's name came into it, Gryffindors in particular being prone to using it to defend Vivian and lycanthropic rights. A fifth year Hufflepuff - one of Frankie's dormitory mates - got quite involved in the argument when a Gryffindor brought this up, and shouted at the top of his lungs that "Yeah, well even Lupin got sacked! It's in _Hogwarts, A History_!" Then he'd quite suddenly shut up, and looked directly at Teddy, his mouth opening and closing stupidly. Teddy didn't know what to say to it. It wasn't the first time he'd heard a complete stranger talk about Dad, and it wasn't particularly cruel - Teddy reckoned Dad would have been in this if he were here, and if it had been him rather than Vivian, he'd probably be on the boy's side - but it still felt like he'd been through a boxing lesson with a Dudley who'd forgotten to pull his punches.

By Sunday night, Teddy had taken to his room most of the time. Victoire visited him after supper to play a half-baked game of two-man Tarot poker, bringing Bushy to play with Checkmate. To his relief, she wasn't talking about Vivian or werewolves. She'd got a letter from her father, telling her that the new baby might be born before the end of June. Victoire was terribly sad about this, as she hadn't had to miss any of the others being born.

"I even got to go in and _help_ when it was Muriel," she said, peering intently at Teddy's forehead. She herself had the Ten of Cups facing out at him, which was good, but if he had any of the Major Arcana cards, he could still win. "I got to mop Maman's forehead and tell her how wonderfully she was doing. None of the others were old enough, but I was almost ten, and Dad said I could, as long as I left when I was told to. Did you go when Lily was born? You were ten then, or almost."

"Granny and Uncle Harry reckoned it would be disturbing."

"Well, I wasn't allowed in when there was a lot of blood - you know, at the end. I went in at the beginning. Then I was in charge of watching my sisters until everything was cleaned up and there was a new baby. I wish I could be here for this one. Maybe it will be another boy finally."

"Artie would like that." Teddy touched the card on his forehead, willing it to be high, and tossed a few more Knuts into the pile. "Did your dad say anything else?"

She shrugged. "I told him that Mina Moran likes Kirk Scrimgeour and Kirk said that I could tell Mina that he liked her, too, and she said I should go back and tell him that she'll hold his hand if he wants her to and - "

"You told your _dad_ that?"

Victoire nodded, looking stricken. "Yes! And he said was that I wasn't allowed to go out with anyone until I've passed my O.W.L.s!"

Teddy laughed. Victoire gave him a frustrated little frown. Her card fell off her forehead and he dealt out another hand.

By the time she'd left, he'd put Vivian temporarily out of his mind, but the next morning brought her back. The outer world was having the same argument that was going on at Hogwarts, and each _Prophet_ article seemed to spark a new round. Honoria and the _Charmer_ staff were nosing about at the tables, trying to get students to talk for an article of their own. Honoria raised her eyebrows at Teddy as she passed, the last of the morning post's owls flying off above her head. He shook his head at her firmly.

"Fine," she said. "But it's hardly an article on this without some comment from you." She narrowed her eyes. "You couldn't find those other friends of hers, could you? The other werewolves that I talked to? They didn't tell me how to reach them."

"They're _busy_ , Honoria."

She looked up with avid curiosity at this, but Teddy didn't elaborate. He was just turning back to his breakfast when a huge tawny owl burst in and swooped down at the staff table. It landed in front of Professor Longbottom, who gave it a tired glance, then grabbed it and tore the message it carried away. He put an entire piece of bread in the bird's talons and shoved his own water goblet over, then stood and went to the Headmistress, still reading. Teddy couldn't hear what they were saying - it wasn't that loud in the Great Hall, so he suspected one or the other of them was Muffling the conversation - but Professor Sprout didn't look happy, and Professor Longbottom didn't look like he cared. He stormed out the back door, letter in hand.

"What was that about?" Kirk Scrimgeour asked, looking mystified.

Ruthless - looking after Professor Longbottom with dawning understanding - absently cuffed him, and said, "It's not your business."

Victoire, as aware as Teddy was of what had seemed the case at Christmas, suggested that Professor Longbottom's elderly grandmother might be sick. This seemed to satisfy most of the Gryffindor curiosity seekers. Augusta Longbottom's arrival at the Battle of Hogwarts was the stuff of legend, and her deeds now rivaled those of Godric Gryffindor himself in popular imagination. Teddy supposed Mum's might have as well, if she'd accomplished anything by showing up when she didn't need to.

The curiosity from Hufflepuff hadn't been sated, and as Teddy walked down to the greenhouses with Tinny, Laura, Joe, and Roger, they were debating the subject, wondering if Professor Longbottom would explain himself. Teddy privately doubted it, and wasn't surprised when he came through the door to find the Headmistress herself standing at the head of the class, potting Honking Daffodils as if she'd never left the post.

"Please sit down," she said. "Professor Longbottom has chosen to take today off, and I'll be teaching you." She smiled. "It's been a while, but I think I remember."

Teddy wasn't sure if it was a good class or a bad class, as none of them were concentrating on it. It just seemed _wrong_ not to have Professor Longbottom up there, fussing at his plants, going around to check their work.

After Herbology, Teddy went to Defense Against the Dark Arts, and barely heard Robards going on about a long assignment. When he was told to choose a topic for his next essay, he had to ask what the choices were again.

"Any of the advanced dark creatures or manifestations we've covered this year, Teddy," Robards said. "Seven feet, due before your final examination. History, theory, and control techniques."

Teddy couldn't think of anything, and Robards frowned at him in a concerned way. "Teddy? If you're hesitating because you want to study werewolves, that's fine, it's a perfectly valid topic."

"Revenants," Teddy said, before Robards decided to choose for him. He didn't know why he'd chosen that topic - it was handy, he supposed, and his bookmark was still in the chapter.

"All right. But they're difficult. If you run into trouble, let me know."

Jane asked if it would be all right if _she_ reported on werewolves, as long as Teddy hadn't chosen to. Much to Teddy's relief, Maurice rolled his eyes and said, "Teddy doesn't _own_ werewolves, you know," thereby saving the need for him to do so himself.

He met Ruthless on the way to the Great Hall. She was chewing her lip thoughtfully, and when he got to her she said, "Professor Longbottom and Vivian were good friends, weren't they?"

"Yes."

"Good friends like we are?" Teddy didn't answer, which she took as an answer. She nodded and said, "I hope he's gone off somewhere to absolutely _pound_ someone then. I would, if it were you."

Teddy smiled. "Thanks. I think. But I'm going to have to fight a dragon or something now to keep my reputation as a bloke." Ruthless shook her head in disbelief at such a notion, and Teddy shrugged. "But he can't know who to pound. He'd tell the Aurors."

"No, he wouldn't." Ruthless looked at him blankly. "They'll have to turn her in. They won't have a choice."

This hadn't occurred to Teddy, though he supposed it should have. His mum and Kingsley had hidden Sirius, but Sirius was innocent. Vivian really _had_ made that attack. Would Uncle Harry be forced to drag her to Azkaban, with all of the members of Greyback's pack who'd already been brought there?

He spent the rest of the day thinking about this, and neither Uncle Harry nor Ron came to the school for guard duty to ask. There had to be a reason Ruthless was wrong about it. It wouldn't be _fair_ to arrest her for something she wouldn't have done except for the full moon.

He somehow managed his work through the day, and even got a start on his Revenant essay in the library. Robards was right - they were a complex topic. But it kept his head engaged.

He couldn't sleep when he went back to his room, and he couldn't find a book that could keep his attention. Finally, he drew out the Marauder's Map. Nothing showed red in any of the areas he knew, most of the students were asleep and still (though Frankie still seemed to be down in the 'Puff Common Room). Professor Sprout and Professor Flitwick were having tea in the staff room (or, at any rate, sitting across a table from one another), and Professor Robards was prowling the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Teddy looked out the window and saw him there, a glowing wand point, jabbing into the shadows. Professor Gardner was visiting Professor Trelawney.

Three new dots appeared by the main gate, huddled so close together that Teddy had trouble reading the names. He concentrated, and they seemed to come into focus.

The dot in the middle was labeled "Neville Longbottom." So close beside him that they had to be carrying him were "Evelyn Blondin" and "Robert Alderman."

Teddy didn't bother thinking about or worrying about breaking curfew. He grabbed his cloak and went out to meet them.

The night was cool, but not cold, and late fog passed over Teddy's skin like the hand of a drowned woman, trying to pull him under the surface of the world. The greenhouse ahead of him was surrounded by a fuzzy halo. He was very close before he could see the three figures inside of it, and then only in blurry splashes of color.

Professor Longbottom seemed to be in a chair, a spill of brown and red, flowing down like a willow's leaves, pooling on the greenhouse floor. Beside him was a black rock, its brownish-white top bobbing seriously. The only fully human form was Evelyn Blondin, who was closest to the greenhouse wall. She picked up a blanket and brought it to Professor Longbottom, wrapped it around his shoulders, then began to pick through the plants, looking for something.

Teddy didn't pause before opening the door.

Professor Longbottom looked up at him dully through a mask of clotting blood and said, "It's past curfew, Lupin."

"Is there anything I can do?" Teddy asked Evvie.

"No, I know what I'm looking for. Just go over and make sure he keeps warm."

Teddy went to Professor Longbottom, who watched him come with no further protests about curfew, and allowed him to tighten the blanket. "Are you all right?"

"Fine." He mopped at some of the blood on his face, smearing it around, then said, "Scratches."

"Is Vivian all right?"

"As long as Greyback decides she should be," Professor Longbottom said bitterly, "I saw him carry her away. I tried to get to her, but she ran."

"Neville," Père Alderman said, "that's not because she doesn't care. She cares a great deal." He looked at Teddy and said, "She's just trying to keep you out of it. You know that Lupin did the same to Tonks the whole time he was with Greyback. But they came back together in the end..."

Teddy caught the hopeful look, and knew he was expected to chime in with the great miracle of his own existence, but since the only thing he could think of to say was, "Sure, I'll bet you'll both have a good ten months to live once she gets her head straight," he decided that silence might be better. Instead of picking up his expected role, he went to the cupboard near Professor Longbottom's desk and got out the tea set, then set about brewing some.

"Here," Evvie said, handing Teddy a pinch of something green. "Add this to the infuser. It will help with the bleeding."

Teddy took the leaves and added them, then dipped the infuser into the pot and tapped it with his wand to start the brew, giving it a little twist of magic to speed up the process. He Levitated the teapot and a cup over to the table in front of Professor Longbottom and sat down across from him. Evvie and Père Alderman sat on either side.

Professor Longbottom poured the tea and took a sip, then looked down at his cup. "Thank you, Teddy," he said. "You really ought to be back in Gryffindor Tower. You oughtn't be wandering around the grounds. We still don't know how that bitch is getting around."

Teddy had never heard him swear when he knew a student was listening before, but it wasn't entirely surprising. "What happened? Was that letter about Vivian?"

"It was _from_ Vivian," he said, then fell into a morose silence.

"Where is she?" Teddy asked.

"We don't know now," Evelyn said. "Neville brought us the letter this morning. It came with a Ural owl, and Greyback always had a sort of loose connection to a Romanian werewolf tribe in the Carpathians. We took a guess. We were right, they were there, but - "

" - but so were a lot of others," Professor Longbottom said. "I ran in without looking. I know better than that. I should have got a better feel for the situation. But she said..." He looked at Teddy, and Teddy could almost feel him trying to soften what he meant to say, then just shuddered and went on. "She said she was writing to say goodbye. That she meant to... that if she didn't, Greyback would keep making her do things."

"She meant to hurt herself?" Teddy said, and turned to Père Alderman for confirmation. It didn't make sense. "She meant to _kill_ herself?"

"I think so," Père Alderman said.

"But she was still alive when you left?"

"We can thank Greyback," Evvie told him bitterly. "He'll let her do it eventually if we don't get her back, but for now, he's having too much fun torturing her."

"Whatever the reason," Père Alderman said, "she's still alive. So if we have to thank Greyback for it, we will. And we'll get her away, and take care of her."

Teddy shook his head. "But it's something he's doing. She shouldn't... it's not her _fault._ It's just something he _made_ her do. She should hurt _him_! What's she trying to hurt herself for? It's stupid!"

"You'll have no argument from me," Professor Longbottom said. He drew something from his pocket, and Teddy recognized Vivian's wand, the one she'd stolen from Greyback when she'd left him as a child, the one that contained a hair from every werewolf in his pack, including Vivian, Alderman, Evvie, and Dad. Mathilde had batted it away during the confrontation in Hagrid's paddock; Professor Longbottom must have picked it up. "Six months ago, she was going to use this to kill him," he said. "God, I wish I'd been able to get it back to her." He finished his tea, then said, "You really need to get back, Teddy. I'm grateful that you were concerned, but you don't belong here. I'll take you back." He stood, then swayed alarmingly.

Evelyn sat him back down. "You're not going anywhere. You need to send for Madam... er... your school Healer."

"Pomfrey," Teddy said, and sent his Patronus to the infirmary with the message "Professor Longbottom hurt, greenhouse one."

Somewhere, Professor Longbottom managed to find a very small smile. "You know she'll call you on being out."

"Oh, well."

"I'll get Teddy back to the castle," Père Alderman said.

"Yes. Thank you." Professor Longbottom frowned at a cut on his arm. "For everything. Really."

Alderman nodded curtly, then put his hand on Teddy's shoulder and led him back outside. "You know not to tell any of the other students what you saw tonight," he said. "Your professor is in quite enough pain without that."

"I know," Teddy said. "What can I _do_? About all of this?"

"Nothing."

"No, really, I can't just sit here and..."

"Yes, you can. Because there's nothing else for you to do. Be careful. Keep your eyes open. But beyond that, I can't think of anything else, unless you're religious, in which case, pray."

"What really happened, Father?"

Alderman paused. They were in the darkest spot on the route from the greenhouses to the castle door, the place where the greenhouse lights had ended and the castle lights hadn't quite reached. "Neville came to France this morning with Vivian's note. Evvie and I were working there. The others were all off looking in other places. At first, I didn't think Greyback would be mad enough to go back to an old ally, but of course, there's not much he's not mad enough for, really. Evvie said we ought to try.

"We got there through the creature network - your friend Charlie Weasley got us through and gave us the talismans we'd need to get into the villages in the mountains. There's a reason Romania is known for vampires, you know. Anyway, these particular friends of Greyback's are under a vampire's patronage. They watch over him in the daytime and keep people in terror when he can't act. We had to get to the castle. So we did.

"We got as far as the door, and we saw Vivian at the top of the stairs. He's taken her eye, you know. She looked horrible. But Greyback said that he meant to keep her around. And that he meant to keep us, as long as we'd wandered in. That was when the other pack attacked us. Neville's a damned good fighter."

Teddy nodded. "Everyone knows that."

"I didn't really know what it meant until he took out six of the ones attacking us. But they kept coming. Evvie and I fought them as well as we could, but we were pushed out of the castle. We saw Greyback riding away on a gray horse, with Vivian behind him. Another horse came out. I'm guessing Mathilde."

"Black hair, short robes?"

"Yes."

"That's her."

Alderman nodded. "They got away. I don't know who else is left with him, but he's obviously building up new alliances."

"Well, can't we tell Uncle Harry? Couldn't he get all of them?"

"No. The vampire who this new pack works for is part of the Romanian Ministry, and they're under his protection. Technically, we were breaking in. The British Ministry could complain about them harboring a British criminal, but Harry can't just go in and grab him."

"Great." They started moving again. Teddy felt vaguely sick. "Maybe I could research Romanian magical law," he said. "I'm sure we have books."

"Teddy, you should be doing your schoolwork. Think about other things!"

"I do, that's the problem, I think about too many other things."

"This isn't your responsibility."

"But I feel..." Teddy's stomach did a slow roll.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Père Alderman stopped at the base of the castle's front steps and said, "Teddy, if you need to talk to me, you can."

"A confession?" Teddy said. "But I'm not Catholic."

Alderman smiled. "So that means I can't absolve you. It also means that you don't believe I could absolve you if I were allowed to try. So we'll just call it talking. Sometimes it helps to talk to someone who's outside of things. And I'm more than happy to listen to you."

"Because you owe my father?"

"Because I sort of promised mine," Alderman said, winking up at the sky. "But also because I like you, Teddy. You're a good boy. And I think there are a lot of things you don't say to anyone."

Teddy felt everything wanting to come up - how he was worried about his games and the girls and his marks instead of Vivian, how he was angry about Mum and the battle, how he felt like he couldn't do anything when he was supposed to. But in the end, he just shook his head and shrugged. "I'm fine," he said. "Thanks, though. I'll go in now."

He opened the great door and slipped into the shadows of the entrance, and looked out at the world until the door swung shut on it and Père Alderman.

For the first few days after Professor Longbottom's return, it seemed almost blasphemous to think about anything other than what had happened. Students were gossiping - Teddy and Victoire, who knew the truth about Vivian and Professor Longbottom, and Ruthless and Donzo, who'd figured it out, all did their best to steer questions as far from the truth as possible - and Professor Longbottom himself was hard to miss. Some of the wounds he'd taken during the battle in Romania had apparently been cursed, and he appeared in classes with bandages on his hands and wrists. When they came off a week later, he had clear, round bite scars in several places, and one particularly nasty rip coming back from one of his knuckles. Teddy guessed he'd thrown a punch at one of the Romanian werewolves and caught his hand on a sharpened tooth. The mind might be thrown from it for a moment, but it always came back: Vivian wanted to hurt herself, Greyback was under the protection of a foreign official, and Professor Longbottom had gone out by himself after them because the Aurors would have to take Vivian in as a criminal.

It couldn't be possible to think of anything else.

But of course, it was. First, there was schoolwork. Final exams were coming up quickly, and all of the teachers were assigning reading and review assignments, as well as big projects like Robards' project on Dark Creatures. Professors Firenze and Trelawney assigned separate projects in Divination, and Gardner gave each student a box of objects they were meant to Transfigure before the exam. Professor Flitwick always did a practical exam, and Charms students were going through everything they had learned. Teddy, who had read several years ahead of himself in Charms, went through his third year book carefully, reminding himself of which ones he'd be expected to know for the test.

Then there was the Quidditch final. Gryffindor had been knocked out of the running - barring a really catastrophic loss by Ravenclaw, Teddy supposed - so the last game of the season, Gryffindor-Slytherin, was all but irrelevant. The real decider was between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, who were only a handful of points away from each other. Teddy had friends on both teams, but rooted for Hufflepuff, as his mum and grandfather had been 'Puffs, and no one had been a Ravenclaw. It seemed like as good a rationale as any, and Joe Palmer, their Seeker, was the best flyer in the school. Frankie loaned him some yellow and black clothes for the game. Ruthless was just rooting for low scores on both sides, hoping that, with a lot of luck, they could beat the point spread, and Victoire was madly cheering the Ravenclaws, as she and Story had succeeded in turning the war into a grand alliance, though Madam Hooch had made them take a magical vow that they wouldn't interfere in the Quidditch game.

Most of the goings-out dried up toward the end of the year, as there were no more Hogsmeade visits to plan, and studying for exams seemed more important. There was a rumor that Donzo was looking for a girl to be on his summer tour, and be interviewed by magazines, and he was inundated by girls auditioning for the role, until he finally gave an interview to _Teen Witch_ , in which he said he was far too young to go out with anyone. Teddy thought this might not be a good idea, as quite a few people had seen him going out with Lani and Laura during the year, but Donzo didn't care, as long as total strangers stopped batting their eyelashes at him. "If they come up with it," he said with an ill-tempered snort as they fed lizards to an increasingly large Clabbert, "I'll just tell them that trying it only made me see how young and unready I am. They _love_ that sort of thing." To Teddy's dismay, Ruthless had started wearing the clothes her mother had given her for Christmas (she claimed that all of her "real" clothes had got damaged in Quidditch practices, but Teddy didn't believe her), and several boys seemed to find that they had a lot of business with her. She told all of them that she wasn't going to go out with anyone, but Teddy supposed it was just a matter of time. Maybe until next year, but she _would_ end up going out with one of them, and it made him sad to think of it.

Lessons with Uncle Harry went on, and it was there that Teddy was linked back to what was happening outside the world of his classes and classmates. More than once during April and into May, Uncle Harry let Teddy work on the house before they got started because he had to use the Floo in the living room to check in with Ron or follow up on a lead. The key that opened the system had been hung on a nail pounded into the wood of the fireplace, and Uncle Harry added a charm that would take care of the Incendiary Incantation with the same opening motion. Teddy was not surprised when, in the middle of May, two days after a full moon when the lack of news hadn't comforted anyone, he gave an apologetic look, turned the key, and bent down into the green flames that had appeared.

Teddy didn't have any work to do on the house until he told Granny about it and started moving furniture in. There was still the stain on the floor, but neither he nor Uncle Harry was interested in going near it just yet. So he sat at the kitchen table and took out his pile of library books and a scroll. He was nearly done with his Revenant essay, just looking at the troublesome question of how to expel the rage spirits. They were something like accidentally created ghosts, bits of a person broken off at death - "Think of it," Robards had said, "like skin that gets pulled off if you hold on to a rope you're sliding down." They had some independent consciousness, but it contained only inchoate rage. Revenants generally attached themselves to houses, and Aurors hadn't had much luck finding ways to remove them that didn't destroy whatever they'd occupied. Teddy was expected to explain the differences between a Revenant and a Dementor, though as far as he was concerned, it sounded more like a Horcrux than Dementor. The only thing it had in common with a Dementor was its ability to cause an emotion in living people it encountered. Robards had hemmed and hawed over this, then told him that the books would give him more information on Dementors than Horcruxes, and he should stick with that.

"Sorry about that."

Teddy looked up. Uncle Harry was standing in the kitchen doorway, a ring of ash around the collar of his scarlet robes. His hair was even more haphazard than usual, and his glasses had a faint bit of soot on them. Teddy closed his book. "It's all right. You can stop doing this if you want to. I know it's just for giving me a little time, it's not like we're really doing anything I need to know now."

Uncle Harry grinned and sat down at the table. "Your false premise is that I'm doing it for you. I'm not. I'm doing it for me. It's entirely and completely selfish. I hope _you_ don't mind me dragging you out of the library with exams coming up."

"No." Teddy put his things back into his book bag and said, "Is there anything about Vivian?"

"No."

"Professor Longbottom said she was going to hurt herself. Did she? Do you think she's - ?"

Uncle Harry shook his head. "I think that if anything happened to her, Greyback would make sure we found out in the most painful way possible."

"Will you really have to take her to Azkaban?"

"I don't know. I hope not. Hermione is working very hard to get people to treat transformed werewolves under the same laws as Imperius victims. If she didn't put herself there deliberately, then the blame should fall on Greyback, where it belongs."

They worked more on the Blasting Curse, which they swore every week they were going to give up as a bad job, and Teddy again failed to do much more than make a clay pot shiver and shake a little. Once they were done with that, they practiced Shield Charms and Disarming, then, just to complete the ritual, fiddled with the ancient refrigerator for a while. The Cooling Charm on it was erratic at best.

On the way back to the castle, Teddy asked Uncle Harry if he'd ever had to get rid of a Revenant.

"A Revenant? No. Why do you ask?"

"Just an essay for Robards."

"Mm. I'd say ask Robards that question. When I was in training, Kingsley told me that Robards expelled a pretty nasty one from a house in Liverpool."

It was the last they discussed it, and Teddy didn't _think_ he was thinking about it when he went to sleep, but in his dreams, he found himself in the Shrieking Shack, and it really _was_ haunted. He could see his mother in the kitchen, furiously sanding down the counter tops, and when she looked over her shoulder at him, her face was drawn in a mad grimace. She reached for him with clawed hands, but then the dream changed, and he felt himself caught up on a warm breeze.

It carried him to Tirza's ship, then over the bow and across the moonlit water to the island, where a merry bonfire burned. Tirza was dancing barefoot on the sand, and she took his hands when he came ashore. They danced together, and Teddy knew who she was, and laughed with her while some unseen band played island music. They tripped over each other's feet and fell, still laughing, to the sand. He wanted to stay, but she put him on a rowboat back to the ship, where Ruthless was tightening up the rigging and Victoire was standing in the crow's nest. For some reason, they were both wearing swimsuits. Uncle Harry was at the wheel, and Donzo and the Pondhoppers were playing some kind of silly, happy tune on a stage at the stern. Frankie lowered a rope ladder and he climbed up it onto the ship. He could see Tirza's island in the distance, and she was kneeling at the shore, her head in her hands. No one would go back for her, no matter how many times Teddy asked. Uncle Harry cheerfully said something about accepting things, and Granny, a cocktail in her hand, said that Tirza had always been willful, anyway.

The ship steered past the island, and sailed into the waking morning.

Teddy went on.


	23. Breaking Through

**Chapter 23:**

 **Breaking Through**

On the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts, Teddy swore that he wouldn't go to the spot where his parents had died, but of course, he did. He'd sworn the same last year, and ended up there anyway, his traitor imagination trying to put together what had happened. Dad had fallen to Dolohov. He'd thrown his wand to Dean Thomas to defend himself, then Dolohov had changed his target. The curse would have rendered him unconscious, but it hadn't been the Killing Curse. It had been a specialty of Dolohov's. It burst internal organs. It would have been painful. Then Mum had run out and Dean had taken over the battle to get Dolohov away, thinking that Mum might be able to do something. Hermione had survived Dolohov's curse, after all. Maybe she would have been kneeling beside him when Bellatrix came out of the shadows, her knife drawn...

Or maybe she'd been out for an entirely different reason. Maybe she'd been chasing a giant, or even dueling Bellatrix. There was no way to know.

Teddy lay down on the ground where they'd been and looked up at the sky, willing them to answer him, to tell him, to be with him. After a long time, he took out Dad's ring, and used it to go back into a favorite memory, the only one on it that had all three of them in it and fully alive. They were together in Granny's garden, and Mum was posing for the picture Dad had never finished drawing. He kept telling her to be still, but he wasn't serious about it. Mum was morphing at baby Teddy, and he was morphing back at her as well as he could at less than a month old. Dad finally couldn't stand being separate from them anymore, and dropped his charcoal and sketchpad and put his arms around them both. He plucked Teddy out of Mum's arms and cuddled him, joking that he meant to keep him - after all, she'd got to carry him around for nine months. Mum tackled them both gently onto a bench, and kissed baby Teddy on the head, then ran her fingers through Dad's hair and told him that she loved him. Dad didn't say it, but Teddy was in his mind, and felt it in a wave so strong it felt like he might drown in it. He could feel the small warmth in Dad's arms that was himself, and it was all too good, too happy, it couldn't last, it couldn't be _his_. But it was.

For another forty-eight hours, Teddy thought as the memory cleared. _Maybe_.

Uncle Harry found him there - he didn't look surprised - and they walked to the Shrieking Shack together for a very quiet, and very short, lesson.

May went on. The days got brilliantly long and warm, and the castle grounds smelled of growing things and freshly turned soil. The lake had a rich, green scent about it. Teddy got full marks on his Revenant essay, and he earned twenty points for Gryffindor by solving a puzzle that Professor Firenze set for all of his Divination classes. A sixth year N.E.W.T. student who'd been just behind him in figuring it out gave him a sullen glare. Hagrid's Clabberts were occupying themselves building a nest in a tree that Hagrid had built a light cage around. Jane Hunter asked Teddy to go out, and Teddy said no before really thinking about the question.

The baby Clabbert was born as June began. Hagrid ran into the Great Hall at lunch yelling for all of his students to come to the paddock to see something they'd not get another chance at. Most of his students didn't come, but several people who weren't - including Victoire Weasley and Story Shacklebolt - did. The female Clabbert was hunching and grunting, snapping at the male, who was trying to bring her a lizard. There was blood. Donzo busied himself making tea, and Maurice and Corky found it necessary to help him. Tinny Gudgeon made an attempt to tell the Clabbert that she was doing fine and it would all be over soon, but halfway through, she went and vomited in the pumpkin patch. Jane was close after her. Victoire rolled her eyes and brought over some ice, letting one cube melt on the Clabbert's face. It looked grateful.

Once it was over, of course, no one strutted around talking about it more than Donzo, who wrote a song about the miracle of birth, and Maurice, who enjoyed giving all the gory details. Tinny still looked green. The baby Clabbert became an object of great interest. The third years, whose project the Clabberts had been, were assigned times to come and help with feeding ("Mother thinks we'll be carin' fer it," Hagrid said. "Happens sometimes when yeh keep creatures."), but were frequently accompanied by students in other years. Victoire called the baby "Grenouillette," which she claimed meant "Little Frog." Everyone else called him Green Boy.

On a night in mid-June, Teddy was in Hagrid's hut with Roger, Donzo, Ruthless, and Victoire. Roger was working on the baby's nest, and Donzo and Teddy were chopping meat into baby sized pieces while Victoire held the baby in her lap, neatly dodging its sharp teeth as she popped chopped bits into its mouth.

Ruthless, who'd come up from a useless, post-season Quidditch practice and was in full uniform, bat at her side, shook her head. "That thing's pickier than my baby brothers."

"He reminds me a lot of Muriel, actually," Victoire said, pulling her finger away quickly. "Do you want a turn? Bet you got a lot of practice with your brothers."

"More than I ever wanted," Ruthless said, making no move toward Green Boy. "It's about to spit up on you."

"No, not quite," Victoire said.

"Yes, look - " Ruthless leaned over to show Victoire something, just as her prophecy came true. Green Boy spit a gob of half-digested lizard and mucus out onto her Quidditch robes. "See," she said. "You're not the only one who knows about babies. They're so charming." She wiped distastefully at her sleeve. "I'm going back up to the castle."

"Not by yerself, yeh're not," Hagrid said, looking up from a book on sphinxes he was working his way through. "Reckon you lot can all get yer class credit, if yeh like."

Donzo and Roger eagerly dropped their chores, and Teddy started to wash the knives. Victoire looked pained. "Oh, Hagrid, can't I just finish feeding him?"

"Well, I can't leave yeh here on yer own..."

"I'll stay," Teddy said. "Might as well. I don't have anything better to do."

"You're mental, Lupin," Ruthless said, and ran her hand affectionately through his hair.

Hagrid gave them a leery look, then said, "The pair of yeh - stay righ' where yeh are 'til I get back, all righ'?"

Teddy shrugged. Greyback had done nothing since the night he'd aimed Vivian at an innocent family. He was safe in Romania; maybe Mathilde had convinced him that it made more sense to stay where he was than to walk right back into the Ministry's guarded fortresses. Even the Aurors seemed not to expect much trouble. Uncle Harry was alert and on guard when Teddy had passed him, but Ron was talking to Professor Longbottom and the woman Hannah. There hadn't even been an extra guard during the full moon. "Sure," he said. "We'll stay."

Victoire nodded and went back to Green Boy. Hagrid led the others out. Teddy watched them go up the hill.

"I wonder if Maman's baby has been born yet," Victoire said.

"I'm sure your Dad will call you by Floo."

"I wish I could be there."

"I know."

She reached into the vat of chopped lizard and pulled out another handful, drizzling it down to Green Boy in bite-sized drops. His mother would be doing this by chewing it up and spitting it down his throat, but no one had wanted to be quite that good a replacement. "Teddy?"

"What?"

"Are you going to marry Ruth Scrimgeour?"

"Am I... _what?_ " Teddy turned around. "I'm not marrying anyone!"

"But _someday_." She pursed her lips dramatically, then let out a long-suffering sigh. "I suppose if she's your true love..."

Teddy deeply wished he hadn't volunteered to stay. "Er... I..." He couldn't think how to follow it up. "Is Green Boy going to spit up again?"

She inspected the Clabbert. "I don't think so. Does it look like it to you?"

"I don't know what it would look like."

"Are you going to go out with someone else? Laura, or Tinny, or..."

"I don't know." Teddy backed toward the door. The sunset was casting a faint red glow over everything, and he suddenly wanted to be out in it. "Why?"

"Well, I thought maybe... well, I'm not allowed to go out, exactly, but well..." She looked up, chewing on her lip, and it dawned on Teddy that Victoire Weasley was asking him out. Victoire. He thought it wrong on every conceivable level that he should be asked out by the girl who'd inherited his baby things as soon as he outgrew them.

Of course, she _was_ pretty, no question there. Her hair was beautiful, and her face, lit red by the sunset...

Teddy felt his heart stop.

Her face wasn't red from the sunset.

It was lit from beneath, from the pustule on Green Boy's forehead.

She saw the change in his face. "What is it?"

"Put the baby in its cage," he said. "There's trouble."

She didn't hesitate. She put Green Boy in the nest Roger had been fixing for him, and ran to the window, where Teddy was looking out onto the grounds.

"We should get back to the castle," Teddy said. "It's safer in there. Hagrid will understand if we tell him about the red. It might be nothing. He's just a baby. But... just in case."

"Right," Victoire said. The nervous little girl with very strange ideas was gone now, and she was the general of her private little war again. "They're not too far ahead. We could still run and catch them."

Teddy peered out. He could see the top of Hagrid's head just coming up from the dip beyond the Whomping Willow.

"All right," he said. "We'll go out the door, make sure there's nothing right here, then run as fast as we can."

He held his hand out and she took it - this had nothing to do with what they'd just been talking about, it was just a partnership - and he opened the door slowly into the deepening evening. A ghost moon hung in the sky.

"Come on," he said. "Let's - "

Something white streaked across the grounds from the gate, and then Maddie Apcarne was running after it, screaming. "We tracked them! Neville! Harry! Hagrid! They're moving through the ground! They're - "

Something shimmered on the ground in front of the Whomping Willow, then twirled up into the air. A storm of sparks flew about like fireflies, swirling themselves into shapes.

Vivian.

Mathilde.

Greyback.

At least a dozen others.

All standing between Teddy and Victoire on one side, and all of their defenders on the other.

Teddy tightened his grip on Victoire's hand and dragged her around, meaning to run back to Hagrid's hut, but something warm swarmed by him, and Mathilde Dubois appeared in front of him, smiling in great good humor. "Eh-eh," she said, shaking her finger. "It's your turn. And 'oo is your pretty friend?"

Teddy drew his wand, but before he cast a spell, Victoire's bag hit his elbow and something flew toward Mathilde. A dungbomb blew up in her face.

Mathilde screeched and said something in French that didn't strike Teddy as one of her over-sweet pleasantries.

Victoire snapped back at her - Teddy caught "connasse" and "putain," among many other words - but before she could really get started, he broke left, hoping to get around Mathilde, but she streamed by them again, obviously meaning to keep them driven toward Greyback and the others. He looked up the hill. Uncle Harry had arrived, and Professor Longbottom was running out from the greenhouses. Maddie and Hagrid were already fighting. Roger was running for the castle (hopefully for help), and Donzo and Ruthless were running down the hill toward the fray. As he watched, Professor Longbottom knocked them backward with a none-too-careful Banishing spell.

A Patronus spun out of the air and formed itself into a stag. Uncle Harry's voice said, "Get to safety."

Teddy tried another break toward Hagrid's house, but Mathilde had got tired of playing the game. She waved her wand, and the whole house was wound about with sharp wires. No sanctuary there.

There was the Forest to one side, of course, but -

"Hey!"

Victoire jerked to one side, and Teddy saw Mathilde diving for them. He remembered how she'd taken Vivian. She might not be a big boxer, but he thought Dudley's advice was as good as ever. "Don't let her get a grip!" he said.

"I got that part!"

Teddy didn't have time to think out a complex hex, but he hit Mathilde with a Jelly Legs Jinx, which slowed her enough to pull Victoire out of an arm's reach, but she was already reversing it, and he didn't dare try it again; he couldn't afford to have her come up with a good Shield Charm and bounce it back at him.

"We need to get to the Whomping Willow," he said.

"That's the other side of them!"

"Not completely!"

By then it was true. Uncle Harry was dueling two members of the pack who Teddy didn't know; Professor Longbottom was trying to get to Greyback, and Hagrid was pummeling a huge man with ragged clothes. Hannah had tackled a woman with scraggly black hair. Ron was throwing deadly curses at two werewolves who were jumping aside, completely distracted. The line was broken. If they could just get to the tunnel, he could send Victoire through the floo to Shell Cottage, then...

He let go of Victoire's hand, trusting her to run after him as fast as she could. Side by side, they made for the Whomping Willow, which was waving madly against the red sky. A branch swiped Hagrid off the man he was fighting, and Uncle Harry had to jump to avoid a sweeping root. To Teddy's great satisfaction, a frond slapped Greyback across the face.

Vivian was standing still in the fray, her face white and haunted, somehow missed in her stillness by all of the tree's violence. She must have learned to fool it somehow in her use of the tunnel this year. She had a stick in her hand, and Teddy realized that, no matter who she'd come with, it was him she was waiting for.

"Vivian!" he yelled as he came in range of the branches.

She ran for the knot, but before she got to it, Mathilde Streamed under the canopy and knocked her aside. "Traitor!"

"I am _not_ a traitor!" Vivian screamed. "I'll never be a traitor!"

She shoved Mathilde backward, and the tree knocked her wand out of her hand.

Professor Longbottom ran toward the tree, but was knocked back. "Viv!" he yelled, and then her wand was flying through the air, her wand with its core of werewolf hair, Greyback's wand.

She reached for it, and Teddy thought, _Good, she'll take Mathilde out and -_

Mathilde jumped to her feet and caught the wand, just beyond the reach of the branches, near where Greyback was standing.

Greyback, who wasn't engaged in fighting anyone - he was letting his lackeys do it - glared at Vivian and said, "That's _mine_! You stole it, you thieving little twist!"

Mathilde raised it at Vivian, who smiled softly.

"No!" Teddy yelled uselessly. He barely noticed Greyback yelling the same thing.

Mathilde jabbed the wand down, a diagonal motion that Teddy had seen in his nightmares, Dolohov's curse...

There was a flare of light and a deafening explosion. The wand shattered, and Mathilde dropped to her knees, her fingers mangled, her face spattered with blood.

"The only thief was Greyback," Vivian said. "He stole my hair for it, you dumb bint."

Mathilde crawled to Greyback. "Retreat... can't defend..."

Greyback's huge hand fell onto Mathilde's head, like a father about to bestow a blessing. He twisted. Teddy heard the crack before she fell to the ground.

"You don't give the orders around here," Greyback said, and kicked her inert form. He smiled at Teddy through the branches of the Willow.

Vivian jabbed the knot on the roots, and the tunnel opened up. "Go, Teddy!"

Teddy ran into the cover of the branches, into the protection of the tree that had been planted for his father, that had given the wood for his mother's wand, which was now his own. He felt safe, like he'd got through, like -

Greyback thundered inside, clear with all of Teddy's defenders occupied with his packmates. He threw Vivian aside, and she landed hard on the hill, slumping down into unconsciousness. Professor Longbottom screamed her name again, but he was still fighting with Greyback's pack, and couldn't get through.

"TEDDY!"

Uncle Harry's voice thundered through the day, and Teddy ran for the tunnel, meaning to throw Victoire inside, then start the branches again, then follow her. He _wanted_ to be in the fight, but he'd just end up being a distraction again.

Greyback grabbed his arm and swung him around hard. "Back where we started, eh, Lupin?"

"I don't even _know_ you," Teddy said.

"Oh, but we're practically family. You want a family, don't you?"

"He's got one!" Victoire said, dragging at Teddy. She drew her wand and cast an Itching Incantation, but Greyback held on anyway.

The skirmish line broke, and Uncle Harry ran toward them.

Greyback stepped on the knot on the tree. The branches started moving again. One of them clipped Uncle Harry and sent him flying back toward the men he'd been dueling.

"Move with the branches!" Teddy heard, and, to his horror, saw Donzo, holding tight to one of the swinging fronds, as they'd all joked about doing in the autumn. Ruthless was near him, but instead of just trying not to get hit, she was moving inward, her Quidditch robes making her look like an Auror in the shadows. Greyback sliced his wand toward her, and the branch broke. She rolled into the circle. He laughed. "Playing dress up, are we, girl?"

Ruthless drew back her arm, and Teddy saw that it wasn't her wand, but her Quidditch bat in her hand. She drove it into Greyback's wrist like it was a Bludger, and he howled in pain, letting go of Teddy.

"Get out of here, Lupin!" Ruthless shouted.

"You, too!"

Greyback, furious, made a grab for her, but the branch Donzo was clinging to swung by, and he reached down, shouting, "RUTHLESS!"

Ruthless grabbed his hand and let him swing her onto a branch. "Go!" she yelled to Teddy.

Teddy drew his wand and blasted Greyback backward before he could respond, then pulled Victoire toward the roots of the Whomping Willow. "Get in the tunnel," he said. "Crawl as fast as you can. I'll be right behind you."

"Teddy, go first!"

"I'll _be_ there!" he yelled. "Go!"

Victoire reached into her bag and threw a handful of whatever she came to first between Teddy and Greyback. Several fireworks went off and a portable rainstorm started to send lightning around. She jumped down into the tunnel. Teddy caught a glimpse of her wide blue eyes reflecting the evening sun, then felt a hand close hard around his wrist.

Greyback snarled at him. "I ain't done with you," he said. "We got lessons. Don't you like your lessons? Your dad did."

"Not from _you_ , he didn't."

"And here I thought you didn't know me."

Teddy tried to raise his wand, but Greyback swatted his arm down. "Think you've got a chance, do you?"

"They'll get through your line."

"Doesn't matter. There's always more werewolves to be made, and you'll help me out there, just like Vivian did. Not that she didn't help me out in other ways."

"Let go of me!"

"When we get where we're going," Greyback said. "Can't go quite as fast without Mathilde, but we'll get there." He leaned close enough for Teddy to smell the reek of his breath. "You'll get used to it all right."

Teddy twisted his wand toward the Whomping Willow, not knowing what he meant to do, hoping that the tree would know his wand, know him as part of itself. "Please," he whispered.

A huge limb curled inward and slammed into Greyback's shoulders, throwing him aside like a large rag doll.

Uncle Harry's Patronus appeared again, not affected by the branches swinging through it: "Get to safety _now_."

Teddy rolled down toward the roots, toward the shifting opening of the tunnel. He waited for it to be clear, then dropped down into the darkness.

Victoire hadn't started when he'd told her to - he supposed he wasn't surprised - so she wasn't very far ahead of him. She'd lit her wand, and he did the same.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"The Shrieking Shack," Teddy said. "Go quickly. I think Greyback will try to get in."

She sped up, barely needing to duck. Teddy felt uncomfortably cramped; he must have put on more inches over the year than he'd noticed. It hadn't been this tight in September. He shrunk himself down enough to move comfortably, and caught up to Victoire. She gave him an odd look, but kept moving.

They'd got halfway when something crashed down into the tunnel behind them. "Got you now!" Greyback bellowed. Teddy felt something sick and red bloom inside of him. He'd known it was coming, but he was going to _his house_. He didn't want Greyback in it. He'd worked too hard on it, spent too much of his own sweat and even blood in it. They'd had no _right_...

"I _see_ you!" Greyback sing-songed.

Teddy and Victoire looked at each other, and Teddy said, "Run!"

They ran down the cramped tunnel, Greyback's crazy panting as he crawled along behind them echoing until it filled the world. Teddy's wand felt hot and jittery in his clamped hand, and he was almost dizzy with anger. He pulled them out into the tiny area under the trapdoor. He blasted the door open with his wand - using more force than he'd intended - and pulled himself up, then reached back to help Victoire, letting go of his morph and growing back to his natural size.

She looked up, eyes wide, at the Shrieking Shack. "What's haunting this place? I heard - "

"Nothing!" Teddy said, frustrated. "It's just a house. It was never haunted! It was just my parents' house!"

"I swear there's something..."

Teddy ground his teeth. "Never mind," he said, more to himself than to Victoire. "Come on. We'll get you back to Shell Cottage." He fumbled in the inner pocket of his robes for the sparkling cubes of Floo powder that Donzo's father had sent him. There was a flower-pot of it on the mantle, but he didn't want to chance spilling it. He fumbled one to Victoire, then shoved two more into the front pocket of his jeans.

"What about you?"

"I'm going back."

"No you're not!"

Teddy grabbed Victoire's elbow and dragged her into the parlor and plucked the Floo key from its spot by the fireplace. He jabbed it into his spot.

Flames leapt up.

In the next room, Greyback burst out of the trapdoor like ash spewed from a volcano. He picked up the discarded trapdoor and threw it into the wall, tearing the wallpaper Teddy had spent the autumn carefully restoring.

"Teddy!" Victoire screamed.

"Go!" he yelled.

She tossed her cube of Floo powder into the fire and said "Shell Cottage!" but before she could move, Greyback ran into the parlor, knocking her off her feet as the flames went green. "You're going to miss the party, Missie," he said.

Teddy jabbed his wand at Greyback, wishing he knew worse curses than anyone had ever bothered to teach him. He tried a Blasting Curse, but somehow, his aim was off, and Greyback just grabbed his arm and pushed him back. He was used to controlling people smaller than he was, and didn't even seem winded holding on to both Teddy and Victoire.

Teddy couldn't get his wand hand turned around. He tried to kick Greyback in the side, but Greyback was ready for him. He brought his elbow down hard on the side of Teddy's knee as soon as his leg straightened out, and bright white pain exploded out. Only Greyback's hand around his wrist kept him upright.

Victoire squirmed, and Teddy saw her hand disappear into her bag.

Greyback started to turn his head, noticing the motion, so Teddy started to struggle again, ignoring the pain in his leg. "Is this the only thing you can control?" he asked. "Couple of kids?"

Greyback laughed, giving his attention back to Teddy. "You'll get a lesson in what I can control, Lupin."

"You couldn't control Mathilde, so you broke her neck."

"She had a wrong idea in her head. She thought she - "

Something whistled up between them and burst into thunder and lightning. Rain lashed across Greyback's face, and in surprise, he batted at the small cloud, letting go of Teddy.

Teddy dropped onto his good leg, then yanked Victoire out from under Greyback's knee. A tiny arc of electricity stabbed at the buttons on Greyback's coat, and he yelled, pulling it off and throwing it into the corner. The storm followed the coat, pouring rain out over the floorboards. Another flash of lightning showed the water stain spreading, reaching for the other, older stain near the trapdoor.

"Come on!" Victoire said, dragging Teddy away from the parlor, where Greyback was blocking their escape.

He limped sideways into the narrow corridor by the stairs, and his leg gave out, sending him reeling into the wall. Most of the drawings fell down around him, their frames shattering. A splinter of wood stabbed up through the paper on the picture of Evvie Blondin, and Teddy felt it like it had gone through his own chest. He could feel hot, powerless tears behind his eyes.

Something crashed in the parlor.

Victoire looked around frantically. "Where should we go?"

Teddy couldn't seem to think. Part of him was outside, being dragged back by strong, wiry arms. An echoing voice said, _Let go... let go... you have to..._

"TEDDY!"

He blinked, and was back in the corridor. "Kitchen," he said. "We can get out into the garden." He raised his wand. " _Expecto Patronum!_ " The hawk exploded out into the room. Greyback, stumbling out of the parlor, drenched, tried to make a grab for it, but of course, there was nothing to hold onto. Teddy gave up trying to stand, and scrambled back toward the kitchen on all fours. " _Declamare Patroni! Uncle Harry! Shrieking Shack. Greyback's here._ "

The Patronus swooped down, then shot back over his head and disappeared.

Victoire's arms hooked under his shoulders, and he felt himself yanked back into the kitchen. He scrambled to the wall and used it to pull himself up. He Levitated the table and flipped it into the doorway, shattering part of the drywall, but blocking Greyback's way. "Come on!" he said, edging against the wall toward the back door. Blood red light was streaming through the window, and he could see the plants waving in the wind, as if nothing had changed inside. In the corridor, he could see flickering green light from the fire, and he hoped that Greyback wouldn't think to jump through, into Shell Cottage, where Victoire's family would be settling in for the night.

But that didn't seem to be on Greyback's mind. He made a sound deep in his throat and shoved the table back into the kitchen, grabbing hold of one of its wooden legs. It broke off with a screech of old, dry wood, and Greyback threw it through the window over the sink, showering the counter with shards of glass and letting in the night wind.

Victoire reached the door and pulled it open, then looked back at Teddy. He tried to lurch over to her, but his knee had locked where Greyback hit him, and he fell madly to the floor. Greyback lunged for him.

"Get out of here, Victoire!" he said.

She didn't appear to hear him. Her lips were drawn back in a snarl, and the sunset painted her pale blond hair a violent shade of pink. "GET OUT!" she screamed at Greyback. "GET OUT!" She launched herself at him, knocking him off of Teddy, but he caught her by her hair and threw her across the room. She slumped down against a table by the wall, knocking over the mug of knives and a clatter of tools that Teddy and Uncle Harry had been using.

"That's that, then," Greyback said, and grabbed Teddy by his good leg.

Teddy pulled himself up, fists balled together around his wand. He smashed into Greyback's arm, forcing him to let go, then hit him with a Stinging Hex that Uncle Harry had taught him. His face puffed up.

A white thing swirled into the kitchen, and Uncle Harry's stag charged on Greyback, adding, almost as an afterthought, "On my way."

"Guess we have to hurry, then," Greyback said. He punched through the Patronus, grabbing Teddy by his robes. As he did, Teddy caught a blur of motion behind him, a stream of blond hair, and the flash of fire as the sunset hit a handful of silver.

Victoire screamed incoherently, a banshee, a Veela on the attack. She drove her fist into the side of Greyback's face, and Teddy had an impression that she'd somehow grown talons, as her great-grandmother would, then he saw that she'd gathered the chopping knives that his parents had left behind, that he'd been shifting around the kitchen all year. Two of them broke through Greyback's cheek with a thick tearing sound. A third dug a diagonal furrow in his forehead, from his temple to the peak of his hairline, and the fourth lodged in his eye.

Blood poured over both of them in a gory rainstorm.

Greyback swayed twice, then fell on top of Teddy, sending his wand skittering across the floor. Teddy felt sharpened teeth pressing against the flesh of his thigh, trying to poke through his jeans. He dragged himself away, kicking at Greyback's semi-conscious form with atavistic loathing.

"Get to Shell Cottage," he told Victoire. "Now. Go."

"Not without you."

"I'll be right behind you." It was a lie. He wasn't going to leave without Mum's wand.

"No, you won't."

Greyback pulled himself up, propping himself on his arms, dragging himself toward them. The knife in his eye pulled free, popping the eye out as it fell. Teddy made a grab for it, thinking he could put it in Greyback's neck and end all of it, but Greyback's groping hand hit it out of the way. He pulled one of the others out of his cheek and started advancing on them, pushing them back toward the corridor. "Last stupid mistake you'll make, girl," he said, and to Teddy's horror, his voice was gaining strength as the shock wore off.

Teddy forced himself to his feet and lurched toward the parlor, shoving Victoire ahead of him. The flames were still green, waiting patiently to let her through to her destination. "GO!" he yelled.

Victoire gave him a skittish look, then ran into the flames and disappeared. The flames flared, then went orange again.

Teddy was alone with Fenrir Greyback.


	24. The Place Between

**Chapter 24:**

 **The Place Between**

Greyback dragged himself into the parlor, smiling grotesquely, his bleeding face shedding gore with each step. "Your little girlfriend leave you all by yourself?" he asked. His words were perfectly understandable, but sounded like they were surrounded by protective packing spells, crackling and popping through bubbles of blood.

"Not for long," Teddy said. "My godfather's on the way."

"Oh, this place is protected enough. Mathilde was a clever girl, but she said she couldn't get in here. Or the tunnel, once they got it magicked up. Reckon it'll take a good five minutes, maybe ten, for your dear old dad - or, well, closest you got, anyway, as your real father's not even much of a meal for the worms these days - "

Teddy morphed. It was a subtle one, a thickening of his cheekbones, a flattening of his sharp, Black nose. He raised the widow's peak on his forehead. Small changes... but Greyback stumbled backward like he'd seen a ghost. Teddy glared at him. "Didn't warn you about everything, did they, Greyback? Did you skip your lessons?"

"You're not him. He's dead. Dead as your mum. I saw 'em both there at the battle, you know. Some old bat brained me, then something must've took me down. Woke up on the hill. Bellatrix woke me up as she went by, laughing. And who should be there but Lupin and his little twist of tail? Her bleeding out right there on top of him, him wailing like a babe in the woods." He raised his voice, mocking: "Oh, poor little wife, gone away from him forever! It's a right tragedy! Leaving a poor little orphan, too! 'Course, that was her own fault, wasting time in a battle trying to heal up the breathing dead. Especially with her dear Auntie on the prowl."

Teddy felt a knife twisting deep inside of himself. The thought that the only person who knew, who had been there, was this monster... But the knife was far away. Something cold seemed to fall over him, a cloak made of ice. "You watched them die."

"Oh, she was dead by the time I got there, barely started healing him before Bella took her out. But your dad was alive. You might say I was holdin' his hand when he finally karked it." He gave another horrible smile, and Teddy understood what he meant.

"You took his ring," he said.

"Threw it halfway back to the castle. I think a giant stepped on it. A bloke shouldn't die pretending to be something he's not," Greyback said with deep, jocular piety. "Shoved her off him, too, so he'd have room to breathe his last few breaths, which I hear he didn't have the last year or so." He seemed to have got over his surprise at Teddy's morph, but Teddy didn't let it go. It felt comforting somehow, and right, to wear Dad's face for this. Greyback took a few more lurching steps into the room. "But I reckon I'll take you with me, and when the moon comes up in a few days, I'll give you everything she tried to take from your dad."

"Right, because before he fell in love with Mum, he was in a real rush to go with you."

"His parents filled his head with strange ideas, but he came back to me in the end, 'til his Little Red yanked him back."

"He was spying on you," Teddy said, backing toward the fireplace, fumbling in his pocket for the cubes of Floo powder, willing them not to fall out as he wobbled around on his sprung knee. "He was spying for Dumbledore, you idiot."

"That's what he _told_ himself. Might even have told other people. But I know better. He found out what it meant to be in a pack. His only mistake was trying to take _mine_. He wasn't any different from the rest of us. Sweet finally figured that out. Oh, sorry. _Vivian_. She's not going for that high-sounding nonsense anymore, though."

Teddy cast about for something to throw at him.

 _Let him talk, Teddy. Think._

It was Dad's voice, but Teddy didn't think it was really Dad. It seemed more like his own brain throwing out a rescue flare. He backed a few more steps toward the fireplace. He could feel the good heat of the fire relaxing his sore muscles.

"Think you're going somewhere, do you?" Greyback said. "I can follow. Oh, I know, they say only one through the Floo at a time, but we both know that's just about being careful. If I grab on with you, you'll pull me along wherever you're going. Maybe to see your godfather's little boys. Is that what you've got in mind? Or maybe your Granny. She's a bit old for me, but she always looks delicious anyway."

"You'll die from losing blood before you can do anything," Teddy said. Something was trying to catch in his mind, some idea. A way to hold Greyback here until Uncle Harry could get to him.

"Oh, I think I can hang on until this little scratch heals up. Won't be quite so pretty, but then, neither will your little girlfriend once I find her to pay her back. No one'll ever think she looks like her mum again. So what do you say? Shall we go straight to her place?"

This time, the voice didn't come from one of his parents, or from his own head. It came from Kirley Duke, and Teddy could hear it as clearly as he had at Weird World: _We're in a place between places, which isn't a place at all... And for God's sake, don't try to go back through this one without more powder, you'll be cooked._

He pulled one of the Floo cubes from his pocket, stowing the other safely. Would Greyback buy it if he didn't hear a destination? How much would Mathilde have taught him?

"I see you thinking, Lupin," Greyback said, coming closer. "You think you have a safe place, somewhere it won't be any trouble for anyone. We're made for trouble, though. We're meant to cause as much of it as we can."

"I'm not a werewolf," Teddy said.

"Well, I'll fix that right enough. But it's not just werewolves made for trouble. We're just more honest about it."

Teddy said, "Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place," but didn't throw his Floo cube into the fire. It was just for show. And he wanted to make sure he waited long enough for it not to go through. He narrowed his eyes. "If this is the whole bit where everyone's out to take everything from anyone who can't hold onto it, get over it. I outgrew that. Most people do."

"Most people learn to pretend. Doesn't make 'em any different." Greyback came closer, almost within arm's reach. "Your dad was a great one for pretending," he said. "Why, the way he walked around, you'd think he didn't have a desire in the world. Just to float across the bloody tulips being saintly Professor Lupin. But he knew better. We all knew better. Bet your mum got a good lesson in how delicate and saintly he was. Sure didn't take him long to sprog her up, did it? And as soon as he'd got enough of what he wanted, he scarpered."

The icy cloak blew away, and Teddy made a mad grasp at it. "Stop talking about that!" he hissed.

Greyback laughed, his blood making a gurgling sound in the back of his throat as he did. "Oh, right. I'm sure it was all for her own good. 'Course, maybe she liked it that way. Most women do, once they get a taste of it. Don't reckon Sweet's going to have much use for polite little schoolboys anymore."

Teddy's mind filled with red rage, and he fought to keep from ending everything by jumping on Greyback and tearing at him with his bare hands. That would be the worst thing he could do, and he could almost feel other hands on him, staying him. He clenched his teeth and said, "You're sick."

Greyback lunged forward, and Teddy backed up almost to the fireplace. "Better run now, lad," Greyback said, "or you're going to burn yourself up. Or maybe you think you'll fight for the lady's honor."

Teddy threw the cube of Floo powder into the fire, and the light in the room went green. He tried to look wary, like he was trying to avoid Greyback's grasping hand, but he was really waiting, waiting for the old, gnarled arm to reach out and grab his arm.

It did.

With a teetering step on his injured leg, Teddy fell back into the fire, his free arm outstretched, dragging Greyback with him into the place between places, into the void.

He felt the spin begin as soon as he was in the flames, but he threw his own weight - with Greyback's - in the opposite direction, bringing himself to a stop long enough to grab for the back of the fireplace. This wasn't a fancy affair, like Weird World's, just a gap in space, through which he could see the shattered parlor of the Shrieking Shack. A utilitarian ledge ran along the back, with handholds on it for maintenance. Teddy caught one of them sloppily, then pulled himself far enough to get a firm grip.

Greyback tried to spin away from him. "What's this? Talk, boy."

"You were the one who decided to follow," Teddy told him. "I didn't say I was going anywhere."

"I'll kill you in here as easy I would out there!"

"All I have to do is let go, and you'll never get out. I will. And if I don't, you won't, either." Teddy twisted his arm to turn Greyback's. Out here, Greyback's weight was no advantage to him. If he pulled free, he'd just go spinning into nothingness. If he did anything that made Teddy lose his grip, he'd be stuck here. His remaining eye was twitching in a prelude to panic. _Good_ , Teddy thought. _Let_ him _be scared for once._

"I can hurt you in the meantime," Greyback said, but all he did was flex his iron hard fingers on Teddy's wrist.

Teddy concentrated on his morph, wanting Greyback as panicked as he could be. He evened out his skin tone, and threaded gray through his hair. "You've hurt me all you're going to," he said.

"You stop that right now, boy!"

"Don't like this one?" Teddy asked, and morphed himself into Neil Overby.

Greyback tried to pull away.

"How about this one?" He morphed into Père Alderman, then into Nate Blondin, then decided to push it by morphing into Evvie, then Vivian. Neither of these morphs were, strictly speaking, perfect, but he didn't intend to give Greyback a chance to look that closely.

"Stop it right now!"

"Oh, I know! How about this one?" He pushed away Vivian's scars, lightened and curled his hair, and became Astrid Greyback, as she'd been the day she came to Hogwarts.

"You can't do that!"

Teddy morphed back into Dad's face, which settled in comfortably. "Sure I can. What are you going to do about it?"

"Ask your little girlfriend's dad what I do about faces I don't much like." Greyback reached out and grabbed Teddy by the front of his robes. Something made a soft crinkling sound. The Marauder's Map. Uncle Harry had told him not to leave the castle without it, and he'd absently put it in his pocket before going to Hagrid's tonight. It didn't show the Shack, of course, or this place, so he couldn't think what good it would do, but it seemed like there was something, some use...

It clicked into place.

Of course.

Teddy kicked at Greyback with both legs, ignoring the jolt of pain in his injured knee. With a grunt of pain, Greyback let go of him and went spinning out into the nothing. Teddy pulled the Marauder's Map out, not needing to open it. Dad's wand was tethered to it, and it appeared, floating in the wind. Teddy grabbed it and pointed it at Greyback.

" _Petrificus Totalis_!"

Greyback spun out of the way of the spell.

"Bugger," Teddy hissed, putting the Map back in his pocket. That wouldn't do any good. He'd be somewhere in limbo by the time Uncle Harry got here. " _Accio Greyback!_ "

Greyback flew toward him, teeth bared, blood flying from his face. Teddy meant to catch hold of him and freeze him - or so he told himself later - but Greyback had other ideas. He grabbed one of the other hand holds, then his arm pistoned out, the hand wrapping itself around Teddy's neck, cutting off his air, and his voice. And Uncle Harry had decided he wasn't ready for nonverbal spells. He lost hold of his morph as the world started to develop strange black blotches.

"Bad idea," Greyback said. "I think you're done here."

Teddy thrashed wildly, but Greyback was impossibly strong.

"Maybe I'll just knock you out and take you with me. Or maybe I'm done with you."

Teddy turned Dad's wand in his hand. He might not be able to do any magic, but he did have one chance. He jabbed his arm down as hard as he could, driving the tip of Dad's wand into one of the gaping wounds in Greyback's cheek. Greyback yelled and fell away from Teddy, losing his hold on the back of the fireplace as well. He made a mad grab for Teddy's leg.

Teddy flipped himself forward with all of his strength, bringing his legs around, dragging Greyback toward the grate.

Greyback let go.

And hurled into the high orange flames, shooting back into the parlor of the Shrieking Shack like a living fireball. Teddy saw him lurch into the curtains, and they went up in flames, catching the wallpaper.

"No!"

He pulled the last Floo cube from his pocket and threw it into the fire, shouting, "Shrieking Shack!" The flames turned green and he jumped back through them into a spreading inferno. Greyback managed one more step, then fell forward, his arm stretching into the corridor. Flames caught the shattered picture frames, and they lit like kindling, Dad's drawings turning to char inside them. The house was catching too quickly, impossibly fast, like it had just been waiting to go up.

Teddy shook his head in negation. He heard himself coughing and felt like something was wrapping itself viciously around his chest. Somewhere, he heard a fist thundering against a door.

It didn't matter.

Greyback had ceased all movement, and Teddy stared at his body, trying to feel something other than nausea at the stink. The monster was gone. Whatever man he might have been was also gone. All that was left was something charred and unrecognizable. Teddy tried to convince himself that it had been an accident, that Greyback had gone through without any help, but somehow that didn't matter. Had this been his intent all along? To turn Greyback into this smoking mass of gristle?

"No," he whispered. "I didn't... I didn't want..."

But he _had_ wanted. He knew it. He could have taken Greyback anywhere, could have dragged him in front of any number of adults. Instead, he'd remembered Kirley's warning about bringing extra Floo powder, and then trapped him.

The fire crept up the banister now, twisting into shapes, beautiful shapes, as it spread. He saw a large dog leaping down the stairs, its flame-coat rippling. A rat ran around its paws. In the parlor, there were four boys laughing, and a man and woman were sitting together on the sofa, reading a book to one another.

The flames reached for the kitchen, and Teddy was suddenly filled with horror. He ran for the kitchen, going around the trap door, around the blood stain, now spreading with char, and he saw a smoke figure of a man struggling with a snake. Nearby, taking no notice of him at all, was a flame-stag.

Teddy went into the kitchen from the side, and the flames hadn't reached through. Mum's wand was still at the base of the wall, and he grabbed it, holding it tight, not trying any magic. Through watery, smoke-filled eyes, he could see a woman at the sink, not in flame, but shimmering in the house's memory. She was scrubbing madly. Ghost sponges flew angrily around her. Teddy sank down against the wall, watching.

The kitchen floor caught.

A little girl sprang from it, chased by a smiling, happy man, the man Teddy's father would have been if he'd lived. The girl was Julia. She ran toward Teddy, flame-arms outstretched, wanting a hug.

The front door blew in off its hinges.

"TEDDY!"

Teddy looked up, and Julia broke apart, Uncle Harry was walking through the flames, untouched. He grabbed Teddy's arm. "Are you all right?"

Teddy blinked at him. "The house..."

"We're getting you out of the house."

"Your dad... Snape... _MUM_..."

Uncle Harry looked at him blankly, and Teddy realized that he couldn't see any of the fire-people. Something crashed, and flames shot out of the parlor, lighting Greyback's body up.

"That's it," Uncle Harry said. "We're getting you out."

He dragged Teddy to his feet. Teddy's knee buckled, but it didn't matter, Uncle Harry had him. Uncle Harry pushed open the back door, the door that led into the overgrown garden, and pulled Teddy out into the warm June night.

"Come on," Uncle Harry said. "I've got you."

"The Shrieking Shack..."

"Sit down. Let me see what I can do."

He set Teddy down on a soft slope beside a monstrous rosebush, and Teddy realized with no surprise at all that it was the rosebush his father had planted the day after the wedding, the day Mum had come out here and they'd talked about their future. Now its thorns clawed at Teddy's robes.

Uncle Harry sent off his Patronus for help, then started to Conjure water, throwing it on the Shack as quickly as he could.

Teddy pulled himself to his feet, looking up at the ruins of his house, at the home that would have been his. In an upper window, he saw a flame-version of Dad, bent over his desk. In another window, Mum was carrying a baby around. And high up, he saw an attic window, and in the window was another Teddy, a Teddy who belonged here, who had his secret places here. This boy hadn't killed anyone, even by accident. He was sitting comfortably on the ledge, across from another boy, a brother.

Teddy raised Mum's wand at the house, at that calm boy who had never existed, at the phantoms swallowed up by the blood shed here.

" _CONFRINGO!_ "

The top floor of the house exploded outward, sending wooden planks and metal fixtures flying in all directions.

Uncle Harry turned and grabbed Teddy away, shielding him.

Teddy reached under his arm and yelled, " _CONFRINGO! CONFRINGO!_ "

"Teddy, stop it!"

" _CONFRINGO!_ "

With a boom like thunder, the Shrieking Shack blew out into the night, the boards and windows flying like fireworks. A low rumble came from the far side, and beyond the house's confines, Teddy saw a long, narrow ditch fall into itself as the tunnel collapsed underground.

" _Confringo,_ " Teddy said, but he'd lost his strength.

Uncle Harry tackled him down and sheltered him from the flying debris, muttering some kind of comforting patter that Teddy would never remember later.

Teddy curled up on the ground, his mother's wand in his hand, and waited for the last of it to fall.


	25. Confession

**Chapter 25:**

 **Confession**

After a long time, Uncle Harry stood up. The wind, even warmed by the fire, seemed cold against Teddy's neck.

"I think it's safe to move now," Uncle Harry said.

Teddy nodded, but didn't move. He felt like he'd grown long, thin roots, and they were tangled in with the grass and flowers.

Uncle Harry turned to him and held out a hand. "Teddy, we should go."

Teddy tried to stand up. His knee buckled, and he sat back down. He looked up at the empty hilltop, now strewn with unrecognizable chunks of wood and plaster. A large pane of broken glass was stuck in the ground, pointing angry shards up at the sky. It had caught the moonlight, and glimmered ghost-like in the early night. It was strangely beautiful.

"Teddy?" Uncle Harry sat down beside him and put an arm over his shoulders. "We can stay if you need to. Ron was getting everything under control when I got away. I'm sorry it took so long. They realized I was trying to get past the Apparition border and kept getting in the way. Your friends got them off me, finally. Luckily, Ruth Scrimgeour is bad at following orders, and Donzo McCormack figured out what they were up to."

"Good," Teddy whispered. "That's good."

"I'm sorry it came here, Teddy."

"I brought him," Teddy said. "It's my fault. I brought him here. And I killed him here. Victoire stabbed him in the face first. I sent her to Shell Cottage."

"That was just the right thing to do," Uncle Harry said. He eyed Teddy carefully, then sent his Patronus off toward Hogwarts. "I'm sorry it ended it this way. I wish we'd been able to get our hands on him before now."

"I killed him," Teddy said again.

"I know. That's why I'm sorry. I wish I'd done it. I wish I could have spared you that."

"Does that mean part of my soul is dead? Torn up? Didn't you say that was how Voldemort broke himself up?"

Uncle Harry put his arms around Teddy and held him very tightly. "You were in a fight. It went the way it went. Greyback kept pushing. And of the two of you, I'm glad it's you that came out safe."

Something flashed, and a white terrier fell out of the sky. Ron Weasley's voice said, "The pack's under control. Vivian's stable. Sending Madam Pomfrey to you."

"Vivian's alive?" Teddy asked.

"Yes. Greyback hurt her when he threw her, and the tree got her in the head, but she was alive. Sounds like she's going to be all right." Uncle Harry pointed his wand at the gate and undid whatever security spells were left after the destruction.

Teddy thought about what Greyback had said, about how she wouldn't have any use for polite schoolboys anymore, and wondered where "all right" came into it.

There was a pop, and then Madam Pomfrey was hurrying in. She looked at the remains of the Shrieking Shack with horror - Teddy remembered that she had brought Dad back and forth when he was in school - then shook her head and bent to Teddy. "What've you done to yourself now, Mr. Lupin?"

After that, there was a blank sort of time that seemed no more than one image after another. Madam Pomfrey healed Teddy's knee, and then they were back at Hogwarts, with quite a crowd. Bill Weasley came from somewhere, saying that he'd had to Apparate because the Shrieking Shack's Floo was secure. Victoire was all right. She was home with her mother, and would come back to take her exams next week. Teddy had done the right thing. Teddy tried to tell him that Victoire had been the one to keep her head while Greyback had him cornered, but nothing that came out of his mouth seemed to make sense. He wanted to go back to his room, but Madam Pomfrey made him go to the hospital wing, even though his injuries were healed. He protested that he had to go feed his cat, and the next thing he knew, Ruthless was there with Checkmate. Uncle Harry Conjured a bowl for her and set it on the table by the bed, Summoning the food, and Teddy watched her eat, stroking the tip of her tail absently. Ruthless held his other hand. Granny came in, looking frantic, and started doing diagnostic spells. Teddy wanted to tell her to stop, that he was fine, but he didn't seem to have any strength for it.

Finally, Uncle Harry brought him a goblet of hot chocolate, and he guessed it had been laced with a sleep potion, because he had drifted off to sleep long before he finished drinking it.

Uncle Harry stayed the night, and was there when Teddy woke up the next morning, bringing him a tray with breakfast, including a large bar of Honeyduke's chocolate.

"Eat that first," he said. "It'll help you feel better."

Teddy broke a piece of it off and nibbled on it. The world seemed more solid. "You should go home. James and Al and Lily probably miss you."

"I called them by Floo last night after you went to sleep," Uncle Harry said. "James told me that I absolutely had to stay with his Teddy. He wanted to come himself. I told him that if you want to, you and your Granny can come home with me tonight. Your teachers will let you come back for exams."

"Where's Granny?"

"Madam Pomfrey gave her a Sleeping Draught. She's sleeping over there." He pointed to a screened off bed. "Do you want to come home with me, Teddy? Would you feel better away from Hogwarts?"

Teddy shook his head, and pushed some eggs around on his plate. "I have homework. And I need the library for exams."

Uncle Harry nodded. "I thought you'd say that. It's probably good. Keep moving." He frowned. "Are you sure it's what you want? I know it's what I'd want, but Hermione thought - "

"Really, Uncle Harry, it's better." Teddy pushed his breakfast around a little more. "Is Vivian here?"

"No. She's at St. Mungo's for now. The Healers are putting her back together so she's strong enough for the transformation in a few days."

"Does she have to go to Azkaban?"

"I hope not. Not right away, at any rate, and Hermione is working as hard as she can to make sure it doesn't happen at all. For what it's worth, I think she'll succeed. Dennis Creevey wrote a piece about her for the _Daily Prophet_ , and he says he's going to keep going until everyone's on her side."

Teddy nibbled a piece of toast. "Why did her wand explode during the fight?"

"Wands are complicated things," Uncle Harry said. "It never ceases to amaze me. Greyback thought that a wand whose core was hair from 'his' pack would bring him all of their power. But turning a wand against one of its parents? That's unpredictable. And I somehow doubt Mr. Ollivander warned him about the complexities while he was being forced to make it."

"So when her own werewolf hair was turned on her, it blew up?"

"Hers. Her friends' and allies'. Your dad's. The power was channeled in a dozen directions. Greyback might have suspected something at the last minute - he tried to stop her - but Mathilde didn't know what the wand was made from."

Teddy tried to care about this answer, but didn't quite make it. "What happened after Victoire and I got away? How did Greyback follow us?"

Uncle Harry sighed heavily and sat down. "Greyback was perfectly happy to let the others fight. They were mostly from the pack he'd allied with in Romania, though he still had a few of his own. He stayed behind the line in the battle, and as soon as all of us were involved in it, he dropped out of sight. There were about twenty of them. The whole strategy seemed to be covering for Greyback, keeping us away from him while he went after you.

"I ordered Scrimgeour and Donzo back to the castle after they got to you in the tree, but obviously, they didn't go. The other boy, the blond one - ?"

"Roger."

"Roger, yes. He came back with Professor Sprout and Robards and Slughorn. We started to get on top of them, but then we realized Greyback had gone. They'd started a search when your Patronus got to me. I tried to break away, but they saw me. Donzo figured out what they were doing, and he and Scrimgeour jumped in. Scrimgeour's got a nasty Stunning Spell, once she decides to use magic instead of bashing in faces with her bat." He considered this, then shrugged. "Though that was pretty effective, too."

"She wants to be an Auror," Teddy said, then winced. "Oh, she didn't want me to tell you that. Forget I said it."

"Please make sure she gets the marks. I could use her." He smiled briefly, then his face became grave. "I left Ron in charge when I left. He got most of them subdued. Had to kill one, though. It happens. Maddie, as well."

"And me."

"And you. Just like Ron. Just like Maddie."

Teddy nodded, then frowned. "Why was Maddie here? I saw her coming..."

"The Unspeakables figured out how Mathilde was moving. How many times did I say we were protected on every side _and from above_?" He rolled his eyes. "No one defends from underneath, except around tunnels, because until Mathilde, the ground wasn't a viable way to travel. She found a way. Now that we know what she was doing, we can block against it if anyone else tries. A bit late, but at least we know."

Teddy thought about the day the werewolves had attacked him after his first date with Ruthless. They'd seemed to rise up out of the earth, coming from the long grass, and he'd never even thought about it. They'd have been seen if they'd been there before. He slammed his fist down on the bed. "I should have figured that out!"

"Teddy, you're fourteen. You're not responsible for figuring out a question that the Department of Mysteries floundered around on for months."

"But if I'd got to it sooner, then they wouldn't have been able to take Vivian, and they couldn't have - "

"Stop it. There's always a better way if you start thinking of it afterward. But you can't go back and redo it. There are a lot of things I'd do differently if I could. But we're stuck with what happened. And that was _never_ your job."

Teddy nodded. It made sense. Perfect sense. But if only...

Granny woke up five minutes later, and spent the rest of the morning fretting over him. She not only didn't hate him for killing Greyback, she endorsed it wholeheartedly, and expressed a wish to bring him back to life so she could get a few licks in herself. "Don't you ever torture yourself over that monster," she said. "I don't want you taking it lightly, but dammit, Teddy, there's such a thing as taking guilt too far. If you think he'd have hesitated to kill you, think again. And then we'll have a nice, long trip to France to talk to the children your dad rescued from him."

By lunchtime, Teddy was feeling stronger, the previous night more of a strange, nightmarish memory. He asked if he could go to Potions. Madam Pomfrey seemed dubious, but Granny was fiercely in favor of it. She Summoned all of his school things for him, and sent him off.

Slughorn was surprised to see him, but conducted his class as always. After Potions, Teddy went to Divination, and sat with Donzo and Roger and Maurice and Corky. They were with Trelawney that day, and trying to scry in a crystal ball. None of them saw anything, and after a while, Roger cracked a joke about weather predictions and Jane Hunter, and Maurice laughed at it, and then they were all laughing, and even though Teddy still felt outside of himself, the day continued to move forward.

Uncle Harry went home for supper.

Teddy began to study for his exams.

Over the next several days, Teddy seemed to spend a lot of time asleep. He went to class, did his homework, then fell, exhausted, to his bed, Checkmate generally curled up on his pillow over his head. He dreamed badly at first, of Greyback, bursting into flames, and then of the Shrieking Shack tearing itself apart on his magical command. Eventually, he found himself on a rowboat, thirsty and hot, headed for Tirza's ship. Tirza - so close to Mum now that there was no difference - pulled him up and put a cool towel on his head. He asked for water, but she said he couldn't eat or drink here. "I'm sorry," she said, covering her face. "I'm sorry, Teddy, I can't help."

"You help," he told her. "I'm sorry about the house."

She smiled sadly, and combed his hair with insubstantial fingers. They didn't talk. The Malaquis clan was coming, and she stood up. "I have to go fight," she said. "Tell me that you understand, Teddy. Please."

Teddy thought about pulling Greyback behind the Floo, about turning to face him after everything he'd done. He nodded. "I understand."

She kissed his forehead, then ran off, shouting orders. Teddy watched her climb onto a boat, and then she was gone, the dream faded away there, as a band of fifth years came in downstairs, celebrating the end of their Potions O.W.L.s, making a huge racket that even Teddy couldn't sleep through. It was they who'd become the raucous Malaquis soldiers, he thought resentfully. He could have stayed asleep, kept talking to Mum, if they hadn't come.

He went to supper, made conversation with Ruthless, and with Frankie, who was stressed about tomorrow's O.W.L. in Defense Against the Dark Arts and trying to remind himself of every spell he knew. Teddy was glad of this. Maurice and Corky joined them after a while, and then Tinny and Jane and Bernice. Roger was trying to get a hatchling Ouzelum bird to look after next year as a special project, and seemed very distressed that the Ministry didn't want him to have one in his Muggle home. Teddy agreed that it was blatantly unfair, as, had he been wizard-born, it would be no more remarkable than a Pygmy Puff.

Ruthless invited him to study down in the Common Room, but he was already sleepy, and went back to bed. He dreamed again of the rowboat in the South Seas, and he knew long before he arrived that he'd find himself on Tirza's island, washed up on the brilliant sand. He looked up and wasn't surprised to see the Shrieking Shack, looking out of place but oddly comfortable, on the jungle-covered mountain that rose beyond the bay. It was freshly painted, and the shutters hung properly. He imagined rosebushes in front, and they appeared.

"Teddy?"

He rolled over onto his back. Dad was standing there, dressed in Holt's clothes, but with no other attention to Teddy's year-long fantasy. He crouched and put a hand on Teddy's forehead. It was weightless. "You did well."

Teddy blinked. "I wrecked the house."

"You sure did!" Dad laughed and sat down. "That was some Blasting Curse. But you can see, it's fine now."

"Is it really better here?"

Dad grew serious. "No. I don't want you to start thinking that way."

"But - " Teddy pointed to the bright sun, the blue sky, the fish that had appeared, broiled, on a sizzling pan nearby.

"It's paradise," Dad said, "and if I could, I'd trade it forever to get a year with you."

"But you can't."

"But I can't. We do the best we can with what we're given."

"It's not fair." Teddy pulled himself to his feet and looked out across the ocean, putting a hand over his eyes to block the angry glare of the sun. "Everything you went through... for TEN MONTHS!"

"It would have been worth it if it had been for ten _minutes_." Dad came over to him and stood by his side, hands in his pockets. "Though I suppose Fifi LaFolle would never write an ending like that."

Teddy could smell the fish nearby, brilliant and clear. He wanted some, but Mum had told him not to eat or drink here, so he didn't ask. Instead, he sat with Dad, watching the sun play across the sea. After a while, Mum joined them. She was dragging a rowboat full of boxes and suitcases, and Teddy knew that she meant him to sail off, to wake up. He didn't want to wake up. It was better here. He wanted to go up to the house, to his room. He wanted Julia and Raymond and Orion and Mira and Carina, but they never seemed to show up in his dreams of the island, even after he wrote them there.

He slept through Herbology the next morning, and Professor Longbottom took ten points from Gryffindor. He was, thankfully, not inclined to coddle Teddy on the day of the full moon. Teddy suspected he was thinking of Vivian, worrying about her transformation so soon after an injury.

After his afternoon classes, he wandered back into the Common Room, meaning to go upstairs and sleep until supper, but Ruthless had planted herself at the base of the boys' staircase.

"Lupin, you're staying up," she said. "You're going to come out with me, and we'll meet Frankie and Donzo downstairs. We'll play Muggles and Minions until it's time for supper. Frankie has a whole game set up - and you _know_ how he's been during O.W.L.s - and it's going to keep you hopping."

"I'm tired."

She looked around, then drew him into the space behind the Lionbloom, where Victoire had caught them snogging in some other life. "Teddy, everyone's worried. You're fine when you're with us, but you're sleeping all the time. Are you hurt, or is this just... you know... because you feel bad?"

"I'm just tired," Teddy said again.

She touched his face. "I know. But let's wake up, shall we? You're getting a bit scary."

Her hand on his face was very warm, and very solid, and suddenly, that was all Teddy wanted. He put his arms around her, hooking them up under hers, and pulled her as close as he could, not wanting to kiss her or caress her, just to have her next to him. If she was surprised by this, she didn't show it. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pressed her cheek against his head. Her hair filled his field of vision almost entirely, and tickled against his face.

After a long time, she patted him awkwardly on the back and pulled away, kissing his cheek lightly as she did. "Come on, Lupin," she said, "buck up. Stiff upper lip and all that other stereotypical nonsense."

"Right." He took her hands. "Stereotypical nonsense, coming up." He stuck his chin out dramatically, and morphed it so it was perfectly square.

She laughed.

A branch of the Lionbloom lowered, and Teddy spotted Victoire's pale blue eyes. This time, she looked more amused than upset. "Honestly, Teddy," she said, "this place isn't as private as you think it is."

Teddy let the girls take him downstairs to the Great Hall. Frankie had put together a particularly exciting game, which required Teddy's character to fly to nearly every location. He wasn't given any time away. They played through supper, commandeering the end of the Hufflepuff table for the game. The others all acknowledged what had happened, and chastised Teddy for feeling too bad about it.

"Greyback's not worth a catnap," Corky said, rolling to see if his character would be able to pick the lock on a set of chains, "let alone sleeping for four days."

"Fine, I'll be happy about killing someone."

"No one's saying be happy about it," Frankie said, "but you do need to come up from it, mate."

Victoire didn't join in this. He supposed she knew that it was more about the Shrieking Shack than Greyback. Instead, she gushed about having been there after all for the birth of her new sibling. "A brother!" she said. "Finally, another boy!"

Ruthless made a face. "My sympathies."

"His name is Lance," Victoire said, ignoring this. "Lancelot, actually, but no one's going to call him that. Artie's walking around like he invented him."

"As long as they never meet a girl named Guinevere..." Corky said.

Maurice nodded. "I'd steer clear of Gwens and Jennys as well, just to be safe."

Victoire stuck her tongue out, and grabbed the dice to roll for an escape from an out-of-control taxi with a mad driver.

The game went on until the Headmistress sent them to bed for the night, reminding them that people were trying to study for exams, which would pick up again Monday morning. She didn't seem angry, though. Teddy stayed in the Common Room with Ruthless and Victoire for a long time, slowly working around to talking about what had happened the night Greyback came to Hogwarts.

"Victoire was amazing," Teddy said. "I tried to tell people how amazing she was, but no one seems to have quite got the scale of it."

"That's because you've been out of it," Ruthless said. "And we're not letting you sleep more than eight hours anymore. If you're not up tomorrow morning, we'll be in with a set of drums."

Teddy slept easily that night, dreaming himself into the rowboat, which was well stocked with things he needed - pictures, mostly, and books. Some of the lumpy wrapped packages didn't contain things with names or shapes, but Teddy knew he needed them anyway. He watched the island fade off into the distance. Mum and Dad were there together, watching him go. The Shrieking Shack gleamed white in the tropical sun. He reached Tirza's ship and climbed aboard, bringing up the rowboat with all of its cargo. Victoire started to stow it, and Ruthless was occupying herself with the maps, plotting out a course. Others ran about busily, preparing the ship to sail off to wherever it was going.

Teddy took his first exams the next week, and he thought he did reasonably well. Ruthless was as good as her word about not letting him sleep, and when she couldn't be on keep-Teddy-awake duty, she had Victoire do it. His friends in other Houses didn't let him go back to Gryffindor during the day at all. It got easier.

After his Herbology exam, he waited for the others to leave - giving Tinny and Roger a sign that he meant to catch up with them later - and went to Professor Longbottom, who seemed drawn and pale, but otherwise all right.

"Did you need something, Teddy?"

"I just wondered... have you heard... er... is she all right? Vivian?"

Professor Longbottom set down a Singing Sunflower he was misting and said, "Yes. She's transformed in worse shape than she was in. She said they practically coddled her at St. Mungo's."

"Is she coming back?"

"No. She's not."

"They're not sacking her, are they?"

"She's going to the sanctuary in France," he said. "The rest of the pack is going to take care of her."

Teddy thought about asking what that meant for the pair of them, but decided that was more than he would be allowed to ask. Professor Longbottom gave him a look that said he knew perfectly well what Teddy was thinking, but didn't offer an answer. There was a knock at the door, and a curly-haired man with wire specs - Ernie Macmillan, Teddy remembered - announced with important jocularity that he was "absconding with the Herbology professor, who's required in London on urgent business." Professor Longbottom rolled his eyes, and Teddy rolled his own back. Apparently, Teddy's weren't the only friends with a mission.

Uncle Harry made a point of coming up for a lesson - given in the antechamber outside the Great Hall - but they mainly went over a few of Teddy's favorite Charms before his exam. James had sent him a new story about Julia and Raymond. Uncle Harry asked if he could handle that. "I told James that he might think about changing the names, but he's determined that they're Julia and Raymond. I didn't want to tell him why that might hurt you. I wasn't sure you'd want me to."

"It's all right," Teddy said. "I'm glad someone else knows them."

Uncle Harry nodded, and they went on.

Teddy finished his exams the next week, two days before the Hogwarts Express returned to take them all back to London. He was sitting with Victoire when the carriages appeared, and they both fell out of their conversations. The thestrals were horrible to look at, skeletal and vicious-looking, though he knew in his mind that they were actually gentle. Victoire shuddered.

They climbed into the carriage together, and Ruthless, Donzo, and Maurice joined them. Teddy watched as his third year retreated into the past.

Granny took him home from King's Cross. She was aggressively cheerful in the car, enough so that Teddy knew he must still look bad. She'd decided to go to part time hours on a permanent basis - "I'm certainly old enough to enjoy some time off" - and was planning to spend the summer getting started on another history book. "I could wait until autumn term, if you like, but as I'm looking at the Wizarding communities as they spread through the Empire, I thought it could give us some nice holidays, all on my publisher." She winked. "Ellsworth has a place in the States, not far from Salem - "

"Ellsworth?"

"Ellsworth Wintringham? His son Herman plays the lute for the Sisters? We met him at Weird World this Christmas, remember?" She gave him a strange, guarded look.

Teddy blinked. "You're... er... are you... going out with him?"

"We've had a few dinners together, for which I dressed nicely and intend to keep doing so, but mainly, we've got to be friends. It's nice to have a new friend somewhere near my own age. And he admires the Beatles! I think Ted wouldn't mind me being friends with a man who knows all the words to 'Hey, Jude.'" She bit her lip. "Are _you_ quite all right with it?"

"I never thought about it. But... sure. I have friends. Why shouldn't you?" He gave her a perfunctory smile, but dearly hoped that he would never, ever come home to find Granny snogging Ellsworth Wintringham. Even imagining it to hope he would never see it was disturbing. He had no idea how his grandfather would feel about it, either, as Granddad had never appeared in his dreams. He tried to imagine looking down fondly on Ruthless going out with someone else, and wasn't sure Granny had it exactly right.

But that wasn't fair, from either of them. Teddy was away all year long and Granny was by herself, and had been for a long time. He had no business feeling strange about it. It wasn't his business to have feelings about one way or the other. And Granddad was supposed to have been a good man, who would never feel badly about his wife.

So Teddy just kept smiling as they made their way past the pond, past the now-normal levels of magical security, into the house where he'd been born. For a minute, he was about to ask where Bludger was hiding, as he usually shuffled out to wind himself around Teddy's legs, but he remembered in time. He thought he'd go out to the family's cat cemetery later and put a cat treat on his grave.

The summer days settled in. He went with Granny to Shell Cottage to visit baby Lance, who looked like a small, more crinkled version of Charlie. He visited the Romp and took the opportunity to see if Hermione had any of the Animagus books Professor McGonagall had mentioned. She had one of them, and she lent it to him with her eyes narrowed in deep suspicion. He didn't read it. He wanted the copy at Hogwarts.

He went to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, and asked if he could look around in the sealed-off upper rooms. Aunt Ginny wearily let him into Sirius's, and he spent a long time looking at the picture that was permanently stuck to the wall, growing more antique by the day. James, Sirius, Dad, Peter. They looked like they'd been off somewhere having fun. Uncle Harry's James came up to get him, and tried to tell him stories. Teddy couldn't really follow them. James looked deeply disappointed, which made Teddy feel about two inches tall.

He went to Diagon Alley, where Tinny's parents had a restaurant, for long, leisurely games. Both times, he ran into Professor Longbottom at the Leaky Cauldron. The first time, he was having lunch. The second, he seemed to be trying to fix a squeaky staircase while his grandmother told Hannah Abbott that she was mad to think of taking on a business that she was legally prohibited from closing no matter how slow it was. "My Frank's Alice once said that old Tom must be a masochist to run this place..."

But those were just moments. Mainly, he found himself alone at Granny's house. He had invitations to be elsewhere on most days that she worked, but he didn't want to take them. He wandered from room to room, looking at Dad's drawings in the nursery, at the portrait he'd drawn of Mum that Teddy was now very glad he'd never brought back to the Shrieking Shack, at Granddad's scrying dish. He sat with Checkmate in the cat cemetery, looking at the names of the long-vanished family pets. Dodger. Granny. Quaffle, Snitch, and now Bludger. He thought about going to his parents' graves in Godric's Hollow, where Uncle Harry had given them space beside his own parents, but he didn't go. He almost never went. He didn't know if that made him a bad son or not.

Two days before the Thunder Moon appeared again - the anniversary of Greyback's escape - an owl came from France.

 _Dear Teddy,_ the note it carried read, _I hope you're feeling better, though I imagine the past few weeks haven't been kind to you. Evvie said that she and Nate told you about our habit of having a feast here every month before the full moon, with the people we care about, all of us bringing food to share. This is an especially important month. We're all together, and the threat is over. We'd very much like it if you and your grandmother could come. Alderman is also inviting your Uncle Harry and his family, as well as Ron and Hermione Weasley and their family, and Bill and Fleur Weasley (Bill, of course, is always invited, but only comes on special occasions)._

 _It would mean a great deal to me if you could be here. I loved your parents very much, and would like to stay in touch with you. Let me know if you can come! Don't worry about bringing food; I'm sure there will be plenty._

 _Love, Vivian_

Granny said she'd like to go, so Teddy wrote back an acceptance, and ignored the instruction not to bring anything. Granny got twenty five fresh fish, and Teddy managed to cook twenty-two of them on an old Muggle grill of Granddad's without scorching them too badly. Checkmate was all too happy to inherit the burned ones. They took an international Floo to Paris, and a local one to a village near the sanctuary. To Teddy's surprise, Hagrid was waiting outside the little pub, standing beside Buckbeak, who looked very unhappy to have a cart behind him.

"Thought yeh migh' like a lift up there," Hagrid said. "And Vivian reckons Buckbeak migh' like a look at his little ones."

"Oh, how lovely!" Granny said, stepping into the cart. Teddy followed her, and Hagrid checked the cart to see that it was tightly bound, then climbed in. Teddy hoped he had done some sort of lightening charm on himself. Apparently he had, because as soon as Granny had Disillusioned them all, Buckbeak took off at a run, and leapt into the sky easily. France rolled away beneath them, green and fragrant as they flew into the mountains and descended into the sanctuary village, which had been decorated for a carnival. Uncle Harry had already got here, and Teddy could see James and Al looking over the edge of the hippogriff pen.

Vivian, still looking wan and weak, came over to them, and took the fish. Her magical eye had been replaced, but she didn't seem to be playing with her field of vision much. "Teddy, I told you that you didn't need to."

"I wanted to."

"Well, it smells delicious. I'm glad you could come."

"Thanks."

"You brought food on top of everything else you've done?" someone called, and Teddy saw Nate Blondin jump over the paddock fence and come toward him, hands outstretched. "Mate, I want to shake your hand. Both hands, even. Which one did you kill him with? I'll shake that one twice."

"Nate!" Evvie came around the end of the table, looking aghast. "That's not the sort of thing you ought to say! Honestly!" She turned to Teddy and shook her head in frustration. She looked very pretty, wearing a Muggle-style party dress, her curly hair pulled back by a decorative clip. "Don't mind my husband. He's never been subtle."

"Flawed upbringing," Blondin said. He shook both of Teddy's hands solidly, but didn't mention killing Greyback again.

Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny noticed Teddy and Granny's arrival, and they were immediately folded into the family. Lily had grown three and a quarter inches since Christmas, and she insisted on telling everyone in the general vicinity about it as she sat on Teddy's lap, eating strawberries and bits of duck that Teddy tore up for her. Neil Overby, much more cheerful than he'd been in December, had noticed Al's Neddy the Kneazle t-shirt, and was now involved with finding out from the Potter boys just what had been happening in the comic books lately.

The feast was less a single meal than a full day of picking at everyone's offerings. By the time Bill and the older children arrived (Fleur didn't feel up to the long trip and didn't think baby Lance was quite ready yet), there were good-sized dents in everything. Blondin kissed Victoire's hand, but, at a look from his wife, refrained from complimenting her on stabbing Greyback in the head.

Lily finally tired of her perch on Teddy's lap and went looking for another novelty. She found Vivian at last, and a moment later, Teddy saw Vivian's eye start spinning around comically while Lily laughed.

Teddy got up and wandered to the hippogriff paddock. Victoire and her sisters were in a clearing, doing a strange kind of dance. Teddy found it hard to look away from, but finally, he did. The boys had moved on to exploring the safest looking forest path Teddy had ever seen, though James was creeping along like he had the entire Malacquis clan and a herd of erumpents on his tail. He turned to warn Al and Neil of some danger he'd created. Teddy went around to the back of the paddock, looking at several empty stalls, listening to the baby hippogriffs squabble amongst themselves. Mirabelle and Buckbeak were having some afternoon exercise with Hagrid and Valeska. The other adults were lounging comfortably at the tables, stuffing themselves on good food.

"Why are you alone?"

Teddy jumped and looked up.

Père Alderman was sitting on the edge of the hayloft. He grinned and jumped down, landing in a crouch in front of Teddy, his black clerical clothes looking odd in context. He looked, in fact, like a particularly mischievous teenage boy wearing a priest costume. "Really, Teddy, the whole point is to be with other people."

"You're not, either."

Alderman stood up, and the image of the boy faded back into the image of a young, cheerful priest. "I had a few things to finish up before moonrise. I have a baptism to do tomorrow afternoon, and I'm never in shape to finish the paperwork in the morning."

"Oh."

"The word through the grapevine is that you've had a hard time."

"People are _talking_ about me?"

"Yes, that happens when people care about you. I know, it's horrible. Next thing you know, they'll be worrying."

Teddy looked down. "I wish they wouldn't."

"Is it really guilt about Greyback?"

"Partly. I know he was awful, but - "

"But killing him is still killing." Alderman nodded, and Teddy had a feeling that he understood. He'd grown up with Greyback. It occurred to Teddy that Greyback may have even made Alderman hurt people, the way he'd made Vivian hurt people. Vivian hadn't wanted to shake his hand over killing Greyback, either. "I can't give you a proper act of contrition, of course, but it might be a good idea to do something concrete..."

"Like what?"

Alderman gave him a calculating sort of look, and Teddy realized that he'd thought about this a lot already. He found that he didn't mind. "Well," he said, "between Hermione Weasley and Neville Longbottom, I think Neil Overby and Celia Dean - the girl Vivian bit - will make it to Hogwarts in a couple of years."

"Good!"

"As your act of contrition, I want you to ask Horace Slughorn to teach you to brew Wolfsbane Potion for them. Vivian says you're quite adept at potions, and I think two years should be long enough to learn. Will you brew the potion for them when they get there?"

"Atone for killing Greyback by helping his pack."

"In a way that would drive him purely crazy, which can only be a bonus." Alderman smiled. "Will that help, do you think?"

Teddy nodded. Even having the thought of it - some solid thing to consider - made it better. "I'll do it," he said.

"Good. But Greyback's not all of it, is it?" Alderman looked around and made sure no one was nearby. "Why did you destroy the house, Teddy?"

Teddy thought about shrugging it off, giving the same glib answer he'd given the other students, that it was burning down and he'd just helped it along. Uncle Harry hadn't asked _why_ he'd done it, and Granny seemed to have decided it was because of Greyback. Teddy hadn't volunteered anything. He'd told no one about the phantom faces, or about his sister, drawn in flame, running to him for a hug, or his vision of Mum at the sink, or of the way the rosebush had seemed to grab at him. He opened his mouth to give a shortened version - perhaps something just enough to satisfy Père Alderman's idea that there was more to it - and somehow, it all came out, everything from Mum and Dad losing the house to finding the Tirza novel there to reading the others and finding the bookmark with all of his siblings' names on it, right up to Dad and Julia, running into the kitchen, crowned in flames, reaching for him. He was aware of crying near the end, but he guessed a priest wouldn't tell anyone. "And then," he said, "I looked up, and I swear, Father, I could see them. They were in the windows. I was in the window. My sisters and brothers and my parents, and I - " He stopped, his throat working against him.

"Go on, Teddy," Alderman said. "Get it out."

"I _hated_ them!" Teddy said, then covered his mouth and shook his head. "No, I mean... I mean..."

"You mean you were angry. About them dying?"

"No. _At_ them." Teddy leaned forward, his head hurting. "And then I blew up the house. To make them go away."

Père Alderman nodded again. "You want to watch your temper," he said, calmly enough. "There's a reason wrath didn't make the virtue list."

Teddy gulped. "But my parents... my brothers and sisters..."

"You don't hate them."

"I did, though." Teddy wiped his face, angry at himself now for crying. "What was the point, anyway? They weren't real. I mean, Mum and Dad were, of course, but Julia, and Raymond, and the others... I just made them up, didn't I?"

"I don't know. There are a lot of things we don't understand. Maybe they never would have existed even if your parents had lived."

"Then what was the point of any of it? I always wanted to be someone's brother, I think. And then I found out all of their names, and... I don't know. I wish I had a big family like Victoire's, or Ruthless's."

Alderman laughed. "Well, there's your point. That's something you know about yourself. You want a big family. So have one, when you're older. The world would be better for having a lot of Lupins in it, I think. And your penance for being wrathful is that you'll never pass it on to them. The anger stops with you." He smiled kindly. "Don't worry about it just yet. And as to brothers and sisters?" He nodded toward the clearing, where James had climbed up onto a fallen tree and was giving a demonstration of Basilisk-slaying (Lily didn't look happy to be playing Aunt Ginny in this scenario, and as Teddy watched, she rolled off and made Al take over). "We make the best of what we're given," Père Alderman said, and Teddy shivered at the repetition of the words from his dream. "And what you've been given are two brothers who want to be just like you, and a sister who sat on your lap for hours with no coaxing. They aren't replacements, either. They're better than replacements. They're _real_ , Teddy."

"But Julia and the others..."

"Can wait." Alderman looked out over the square, where the werewolves were starting to gather together to walk to their secured spots. "I have to go before I become very bad company. But you... Teddy, go be the brother you were meant to be. There's no greater honor you could do your parents."

He dipped his head and disappeared into the shadows of the barn, and a moment later, Teddy saw him emerge on the hillside and hail Blondin and Hamilton, who were trying to calm Neil down.

Teddy turned away from them and went back to the clearing, where the non-werewolves were starting to get ready to go. James, deprived of his new audience, was sitting on the tree, swinging his legs restlessly. He looked up when Teddy approached, and smiled broadly. Before Teddy could greet him, however, Al ran at him from the side and tackled him.

"Hippogriff-ride!" he said.

"Take them down to the gap, would you, Teddy?" Aunt Ginny called. "We'll meet you with broomsticks as soon as we've sent all the dishes home."

Teddy picked Al up and balanced him on his back, turning his hair to feathers (much to Al's delight). Lily spotted them from across the clearing, and started over.

"Hey, James," Teddy said, "I've got a good story for you. It's about my dad, and your granddad, and Sirius. Did you ever hear about the time they fought a whole colony of Acromantulas when they went on holiday to Borneo?"

"They did not," James said, jumping down and looking eager to be proved wrong.

"Sure they did. And they had Checkmate and Martian with them, too..."

Teddy walked down the mountainside, carrying Al, Lily toddling industriously along behind them. James circled all of them energetically, trading the story back and forth with Teddy as the Thunder Moon rose above them.

 **THE END**


End file.
